An Active Memoria: Social Participation of Memorials (2012)
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Collaborators
Chris Bell
Julie DeMoyer
With the memoria of anxiety in the Netherlands around national identity, immigration, and financial security, what exchange does this produce within the community? What is the existing “arena of exchange” at Oosterpark? If this “arena” does not appear present, what would be the results of a facilitated exchange?
To seek insight into the possibilities of exchange within the exhibition space of Oosterpark, I developed and implemented a social experiment involving the memorial, De Schreeuw. The experiment took place on two different visits to the park.
Visit 1:
Julie and I took on the roles of Belgium tourists who were seeking an explanation of the statue. The choice was made to have Julie ask the questions in Dutch to create a more comfortable atmosphere for the exchange. One by one, she stopped individuals and asked them about the statue. The answers we received varied. Some didn't want to discuss the event, while others gave descriptive accounts and the aftermath in the community. While the exchanges we created were highly intriguing and, in a small way, proves that an arena of exchange can be achieved in front of the statue, they were somewhat forced. The strangers were stopped by Julie rather than stopping on their own accord to ask questions. This prompted a second visit to the statue, this time with the goal of creating a more genuine exchange to activate the memoria.
Visit 2:
During the second visit, Julie and I experimented with the concept of a human marker. While the statue itself embodies the debates concerning breathing, pulsing bodies, the symbol is but a set of metallic strands when stripped of the histories and discourse. In an effort to bring a more human physicality to the space of the memorial, I attempted to create my own human marker. Using a physical theatre technique grounded in an exceedingly slow pace of movement, I walked from one point of the lawn to the other in what could be deemed slow motion. The act was used to not only draw the attention of the viewers to the statue, but to symbolize the reflective nature of memoria.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Collaborators
Chris Bell
Julie DeMoyer
With the memoria of anxiety in the Netherlands around national identity, immigration, and financial security, what exchange does this produce within the community? What is the existing “arena of exchange” at Oosterpark? If this “arena” does not appear present, what would be the results of a facilitated exchange?
To seek insight into the possibilities of exchange within the exhibition space of Oosterpark, I developed and implemented a social experiment involving the memorial, De Schreeuw. The experiment took place on two different visits to the park.
Visit 1:
Julie and I took on the roles of Belgium tourists who were seeking an explanation of the statue. The choice was made to have Julie ask the questions in Dutch to create a more comfortable atmosphere for the exchange. One by one, she stopped individuals and asked them about the statue. The answers we received varied. Some didn't want to discuss the event, while others gave descriptive accounts and the aftermath in the community. While the exchanges we created were highly intriguing and, in a small way, proves that an arena of exchange can be achieved in front of the statue, they were somewhat forced. The strangers were stopped by Julie rather than stopping on their own accord to ask questions. This prompted a second visit to the statue, this time with the goal of creating a more genuine exchange to activate the memoria.
Visit 2:
During the second visit, Julie and I experimented with the concept of a human marker. While the statue itself embodies the debates concerning breathing, pulsing bodies, the symbol is but a set of metallic strands when stripped of the histories and discourse. In an effort to bring a more human physicality to the space of the memorial, I attempted to create my own human marker. Using a physical theatre technique grounded in an exceedingly slow pace of movement, I walked from one point of the lawn to the other in what could be deemed slow motion. The act was used to not only draw the attention of the viewers to the statue, but to symbolize the reflective nature of memoria.
