HEIMLICH
photograph credited to OLIVIA KWOK
Heimlich is a site specific installation for 2012 OH! Open House event at Tiong Bahru curated by Alan Oei.
OPP tape and lights. Size variable. (2012)
Memory, which in a lot of ways is a form of story-telling about our past, is an essential elements in giving us the sense of belonging; our identity. It is our basic desire for that sense of belonging. Memory exist in the past, present and future which create a sense of continuity and stability. Memory thus give us a sense of security in affirming our belonging; our home. To forget is a lost of memory which leads to an uncertainty to our past and thus experiencing displacement. Therefore to avoid this uncertainty, there is a desire to remember and to protect memory from being lost. The desire to remember can be seen from our behavior. An example is when shifting, the object or personal belonging such as cup; chair, table, wardrobe or bed that we used daily are often wrapped and keep into a box and being brought to the new place.
Objects in domestic space are often seen as something with sentimental values. However, object originally are meaningless, it is through experiences and interactions with objects in a domestic space that one gives it a value and sentimental meaning or memory to it. Therefore, the act of wrapping and keeping in this installation can be seen as a form of protection - protection to the intangible memories, behavior of the old place. |
|