The notion of forgetting is a phenomenon that some struggle to grasp and one that has never been proven. Slumber (it stays ever present in time, it never passes, it never leaves) delves into an exploration of forgetting, portraying traces of memory to be inhabited within our present consciousness, subconsciousness and self, that it continues to coexist within us; never leaving nor void but in slumber. Our memories are inscribed in the sensations of our body and mind, it is stored inside of us, for maybe one day, we can remember them. This work draws away from the common philosophy of forgetting - it is not temporary, we do not lose traces of information, ideas and experiences over time but instead, that our very memories are preserved and some even, concealed within us in perpetuity. It presents the idea that our recollection of past memories remain intact within our subconscious, archived indefinitely like old photographs that we capture and never look back at again. It lives, it breathes. It lies in slumber.
Chelsy Victoriano
“There is no such thing as forgetting; memory only slumbers—never dies.”
Excerpt from an essay written on the Chamber’s Journal (1868)
Bio
Chelsy Victoriano is a practising interdisciplinary artist who is studying a BVA at Sydney College of the Arts. She specialises in experimental film and photography, typically concerning themes that centre around human experiences specifically in relation to nostalgia, time and memory.