The Way Memory is Recorded

This piece was a study in the way memory works and the different ways in which experiences are remembered and recorded. Friends donated a beautiful maple stump that had been sitting for a long while in their yard. It was full of moisture and life. As I worked on the stump, slowly taking off the bark, the critters that lived in it escaped into the studio, jarred by the sanding and scraping of tools. The entire trunk was sanded silky smooth.

 

The top of the stump has a lovely growth of hen of the woods mushroom that contrasts nicely with the rest of the surface, which was also sanded smooth. I then wrote my personal memories for every year of my life and transcribed them into the rings of the tree; each ring filled with what would fit of my memories. The tree is younger than I am, so only some of the memories were recorded. Also, the rings only afforded so much space, so some of my memories were omitted. The stronger the memory, the darker the stain for the lettering. In this way, the tree's memory is preserved along with my own memories. Like memory in real life, some experiences slip away while others are emblazened more deeply.

 

The life of the tree is recorded in a different way by preserving the trunk, the fungus that has grown on it, making the rings more visible, working with the natural bumps of the root flare and keeping the lines made by the chain saw that cut it down when it died.