Memory coherence

Memory coherence
2021
Archival pigment print on canvas, framed
79cm x 122cm
Edition of 6 + 2 AP

Memory coherence is a continuation of an ongoing investigation into ways of emphasising the algorithmic nature of digital photography, while at the same time paying homage to Eleanor who has always believed in me, even during my deepest moments of self-doubt. To metaphorically represent Ellie’s perpetual support during the highs and lows of my art practice and career—there are a lot more lows and rejections than there are highs—I repeatedly uploaded and downloaded an image of Ellie to the Internet. I did this to the point where the work became more performative than photographic. Nonetheless, the slow and gentle degradation of the image as it is compressed and eroded away played with the ubiquitous dichotomies between physical and digital, and between the so-called ‘original’ and the copy. I am fascinated by the play between originality and imitation—the copy of a copy of a copy of a copy (forever repeating for aeons and aeons)—throughout the history of art. There is no art, or art history, without borrowing, appropriation, fraud, plagiarism, and theft. Art, especially digitally derived art (and music), is a mashup of aesthetic approaches that question authorship, while relying on the authority of the original for validation. The aim of the work is to challenge conventional photographic representation, and, in doing so, explore the creative possibilities of digital photography. However, more than anything—including my often conceptual and philosophical dribbles of a description—the portrait is a sincere thank you to Ellie for years of tireless support.