[-empyre-] November 2007 on -empyre- : Memory Errors in theTechnosphere: Art, Accident, Archive

[andrew burrell]

On Nov 6, 2007 11:03 AM, Norie Neumark <norie5 at mac.com> wrote:
> And then there are the memories we can have of a place we've never
> been to, but remember through the media...

and on the level of the individual (that is of the 'I' doing the
remembering) i have to wonder if there is any substantial difference
between a memory formed through an intermediate media or through
direct contact with the actual 'thing' being remembered. I have strong
memories of my great grandmother, though i only ever knew her through
the letters and cards i received from her for christmas and birthdays
(memory mediated by the royal mail). likewise, i grew up hearing
stories told by my grandparents and father of the town from where they
had emigrated long before my birth. when i first went to this town at
the age of 21 i was able to navigate it from the memories i had formed
of this place without ever having been there before (memory mediated
by the memory of another). i also have strong memories of places,
encounters and discoveries in azeroth (memory mediated by mmorpg), and
while i have spent much time trying to discern if a memory of a place
in 'world of warcraft' is (on a personal level) any different from a
memory i have of a place i went on holiday in 1995 (for example), i
keep coming back to the same conclusion, that a memory is a memory and
no matter how one is formed the ultimate mediator will be an
individuals 'perceptive filtering' and the circumstances and triggers
for recall.

andrew burrell
http://www.miscellanea.com