Conference article

The Other - Buried Sites of Memory

Inga Fonar Cocos
Professional Artist

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Published in: Current Issues in European Cultural Studies; June 15-17; Norrköping; Sweden 2011

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 62:44, p. 429-435

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Published: 2011-11-22

ISBN: 978-91-7519-993-1

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

How memories of the past influence the present? How persons in today’s Israeli society; migrants from Europe; conceive their personal identity between two homelands? What happens on the ’internal’ migration route – what a person chooses to adopt in that process; and what is buried under layers of oblivion.

What can a black wax tablet; titled The Other; (size: 25 X 105 X 3.5 cm) mounted on the wall – sitting on a Plexiglas support; similar to an archaeological find; tell us? Could it be a piece found from the future? Is it a piece from the past?

A line of written letters – created by pins inserted into the wax tablet– appears partially covered by what may look like a volcanic eruption. The sentence inserted in the tablet is a free-extension of the notion The Invisible by Merleau-Ponty. Does it give a clue to the find? What are the pixels created by the pins; what do they tell?

Is the image in a phase of appearance/emergence – a discovery of a new reality/culture/memory or is it sinking; disappearing?

The motivation in this work; as well as in two of my video works discussed; is to reveal what is already present but may be obscured and thus to illuminate the linkage between memory; history and processes of migration.

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References

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Kenaan; Hagi and Inga Fonar Cocos (2009). Viewer’s Version; Where Are The Invisible Trains Headed?; Museum of Art; Ein Harod; Cat. 2009.

Nora; Pierre (1989); “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Memoire” (trans. Marc Roudebush); Spring; 26; 7-25. In Representations; University of California Press.

Ringrose; Leonie and Renato Paro (1997). Epigenetic Regulation of Cellular Memory by the Polycomb and Trithorax croup proteins ; Annual Review of Genetics; Vol. 38: 413-443; Dec. 2004 Anita Shapira; New Jews; Old Jews; Tel Aviv; in Hebrew.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP); online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University.

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