Master's project proposal; Subjective Memories

Since I'm getting this community rolling in direct relation to my master's studies it makes sense (at least to me) to share the project proposal as a way of talking about the type of work I intend to make.

The full proposal can be found here (link to Adobe) or embedded below.

Some quotes to summarize the proposal:

You know how a memory can be strongly connected to a photograph? To the point that you’re not sure if you’re remembering the actual event or merely the photograph. This brings up themes of subjectivity, materiality, and non-human agents.

Photography as a method and a measuring tool is intricately entangled in the research process.

The camera or photographer is not an objective observer standing on the outside looking in, but an actor entangled in the phenomena (in this case, memories or remembering) at hand. I’m curiously aiming to explore the subjectivity of memories. How memories are both perceived, preserved, and fabricated.

As a way of giving up parts of my own agency, I’ve asked a group of close friends to supply me with coordinates to places to which they hold some sort of memory. I will photograph these places - be it landscapes or buildings - without anything else to go by than a brief explanation from them as to why they chose this place.

I am interested in the intersection (intra-section?) of artistic practice and academic research. Busch (2009:3) states that: “[…] research is neither a preliminary work phase of art production nor is it a means to an end, rather it is the aim of the work itself. This is not about researching in order to produce an artwork; the work is the research.”

But from a more philosophically ethical perspective, there’s the emerging question of who “owns” a memory. Who can claim the narrative tied to a certain memory? Are there ethical concerns in “tampering” with a memory using the power of photography?