Event 3: Mnemoawari by E. Joteva

Couple weeks ago I went to Eli Joteva’s exhibition called Mnemoawari. It was a three day exhibition, but I went on the first day so I saw the pieces when they were fully frozen.

The What:

The first thing I saw when I entered was a sign that portrayed some sort of timeline. I read through it but I wasn’t sure exactly what the significance of it was. When I went to the next station, I saw a projection of a blue circle. The next station was a group of three hanging spherical ice-sculptures. The first was made of red flowers, and, as it melted, it dripped a reddish colored liquid. The second was made of sand and wildflowers and dried vegetation, and it dripped clear liquid (it was also attached to a sound system that amplified the sound of the drops of water), The third sculpture was made of fungus and dirt, which also dripped clear liquid. After that was an interactive VR experience that allowed us to see things as if we were inside the sculptures. The next station were three projections of each sculpture.

The Why:

While listening to Eli’s explanation and analyzing the timeline, I realized that the timeline was an outline of the Mnemoawari process. It was a guide for the melting paralleled with the retention/loss of memories. When the sculptures were mostly frozen and melting, they signified our present, when we store our memories and experiences inside of us. The next stage (VR) was symbolic of how we reminisce and reflect on our past, and we re-live definitive moments in our lives. The next stage (when they are all melted) is not too clear to me, but it seems as if it’s a representation of how our present is affected by our memories and it is never the same as how we envision it. The last stage (the projections) was like a representation of the future. The portraits were similar to the physical sculptures but different and I think that represents how our futures are determined by our memories of the past.

I think that this exhibition was extremely intriguing. I found it so interesting that an exhibition can be a process rather than a piece of art. This process was over three days, and it had such a deep meaning behind it, but the actual work was not obvious about stating it. I think that it was definitely a clever way to combine neuroscience and art, and I appreciate the creative interpretation of the artist.