Memory as
a space
Lucas imagines memory as a space, one where we collect and store moments which we have gathered through out our life. These memories depend on ones perception, context and feelings felt at the time. They are not an accurate representation of a certain moment. As the place they are stored in ages with time, these memories suffer from decay, getting blurrier, distorted and eventually disapearing. This is what happens in the case of his grandmother, who suffers from a severe case of Dementia. Her collection of memories get scarcer by the moment and the few left are scattered, broken into pieces or simply just missing.
Out of fear of loosing these memories, we as humans have developed methods of capturing and storing them outside of our mind, like photographs and videos, which also carry a subjective meaning and perspective of a certain time and place.
By using the archive of memories of those who shared moments with her, like family photographs, videos and anecdotes, he reconstructs these memories with the pieces left behind, using newer visualization techniques as an adhesive of these pieces, as an attempt to preserve the memories that are rapidly vanishing, and resulting in the creation of a monument of what has been her life.
In order to visualize those memories that have not been materialized on either photographs or film, Lucas creates a series of spaces or objets using 3D software with a visual laguage that carries the aspects of Dementia, like emtyness, broken textures, dull colours... as well as references to the subjectiveness and freedom of the mind, like the lack of physics, never ending spaces...
The project was exhibited at the 2023 Graduation Show from the Design Academy Eindhoven, as my graduation work from the Bachelors Degree. The exhibition was part of a broader exhibition, the Dutch Design Week, which brough over 40.000 visitors to the Graduation Show. It was an interesting experience to let others into these personal memories, and how the stories where able to translate and reach audiences that I never though would empathize with it.