Layers of a Memory, 2023
Single channel video installation, 5 minutes 17 seconds
Stills from video
Layers of a memory is a meditation on the limits of voice and the ethics of narrating the past. When my grandfather was suffering from dementia, my mother had him write down various memories from his life as a mental exercise. Among the stories he recorded was a meandering account of the first time he met his wife, Marilyn, and his recollections of their life together. The text is linguistically degraded due to his diminished mental capacities, still intelligible but indicative of his fading mind.
Using Chat GPT, voice “cloning” and voice synthesis software, his original writing and real, recorded moments he captured on 8 mm film, Layers of a Memory artificially reconstructs my grandfather’s memory. The audiovisual installation fills in the memory gaps caused by his dementia while retelling his version of the memory in his own voice, posthumously.
The result is a shadow of how his voice sounded in real life - a phantom that suggests, but doesn’t entirely capture, a likeness.
Using Chat GPT, voice “cloning” and voice synthesis software, his original writing and real, recorded moments he captured on 8 mm film, Layers of a Memory artificially reconstructs my grandfather’s memory. The audiovisual installation fills in the memory gaps caused by his dementia while retelling his version of the memory in his own voice, posthumously.
The result is a shadow of how his voice sounded in real life - a phantom that suggests, but doesn’t entirely capture, a likeness.