The photographic archive symbolizes the authenticity of presence. When we recall a memory, we tend to rewrite and distort it with our subjective point of view. With that, memory shifts away from authentic truth and it gradually loses its authenticity, which it will eventually turn into a dreamscape. To Remember is To Forget allows the viewer to alter the state of the photograph using motion and gesture control. This interactive media installation features smartphone archives of sunsets, concerts, car rides, mundane scenarios that are overly-documented in daily life, and shared to social media with their context and meaning constantly being reshaped. This project acts as a social critique of this trend of constant documentation of the present. The photographs are being manipulated with texture operators in touchdesigner, inviting viewers to alter the state of the image with gesture control, representing the process of memory recall, while we distort authentic truth with our affection.
Christie Xu (She/They) is a Chinese artist who works with multidisciplinary visual arts, including photography, time-based media, analogue processes, and mixed-media interventions. Born in Shenzhen, China, Xu is completing a BFA in Photography Media Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University. Their work engages with themes of memory, diaspora and the evolving relationship between identity and environment. Xu’s photographic practice is deeply informed by the exploration of place, transient instances and the affective qualities of the mundane. Their work has been acquired by TMU Library’s Archives and Special Collections and published in The Eyeopener. Xu’s work combines journalistic inquiry and visual narrative by incorporating spoken and written texts into her visual works. Their work attempts to capture the passage of time, interpersonal relationships and the complexities of diaspora.
