detail as fragment of time
Reflecting about memory, I naturally started to think about time. Memory corresponds a slice of time, a slice of the past; it is made by many fragments. When relating time and fragment, “detail” came to my mind as another type of slice of time. A detail is a slice of a moment; therefore, it is also related to time. Since memory is fragmented, I tried to explore detail as representation to bring the idea of pieces of time, pieces of intimacy.
“No matter which scenes an individual remembers, they all mean something relevant to that person, though he or she might not necessarily know what they mean. An individual retains memories because they are personally significant” (KRACAUER, 1927, p.46). In the same way as memories are based on our personal point of views, details are only perceived when attention is directed to them, when they become significant to ourselves. Having to actively focus attention showcases its intimate nature.
The idea of ephemerality related to memory is also associated to the detail in a sense that both are just moments that can slip away at anytime. Just like the Skeleton Flower, that changes its form as it is part of nature, but also when its petals become transluscent/transparent, we are always aware that the only constant and the only certainty in life is change. Change is movement, but sometimes change happens in silence, imperceptible to the eyes. It happens around, outside, and inside. These ideas of movement and stillness can be also connected to the materiality of my work, in the flow of the thread and the fabric, or with the presence of a flat paper.
As memory is fragmented, I explored the representation of details in my new body of work, as segments of moment and time. I started to perceive intimacy as the very presence of details in the world; intimate moments are details of the “everydayness”, that becomes visible depending on someone’s perspective. Similar to memory, the exchange of intimacy is fated to time; and when connecting both, there’s the desire to remember a moment or someone’s detail. And this is a deep intimate act, to pay attention to someone so deeply that you can perceive what others might not notice.
Nevertheless, the detail, which is a very specific aspect, can sometimes become very complex when related to memory, that is ephemeral and fragile. To be able to remember it is one of the most difficult tasks when trying to access past memories. Therefore, there is always a tension present in the work, again facing another layer of its threshold existence.
In conversation with Yves Berger, John Berger said:
“How do drawings contain time? Different drawings, different kinds or scales of time. In your large forest drawings the time seems very extended. Very different from the time in your portrait of Melina with the hand. And both of them different again from any of your hill landscape drawings. We might suppose that the difference comes from the subject-matter - a baby’s face or a wild forest. But I’m not sure that it does. Doesn’t it have something to do with the relation between lines and the space they create on paper? I don’t know. Could it be to do with the “becoming” you’re talking about? In the hill landscapes you “became” a buzzard flying over them. In the forest you became wood. In the drawing of Melina you became her own act of looking.” (BERGER, 2007, p.128)
Some artists, such as Dryden Goodwin, explored time, detail and intimacy altogether in their work. “A day with my father, a day with my son” (2018), which consists of portraits of the artist’s father and son made across a single day, becomes the tracing memory of a day, of lived experience, of shared intimacies. The work is made of fragments of this moment, of this day. The artist created drawings focusing on their facial expressions, hands, bodies, among other details. It is the detail of the everyday, detail of them in their daily activities. It is their intimacy being shared. Along with the representation, the display “in a vitrine, keeping true to the orientation of their production, are arranged to suggest the rhythm of the day and its duration” (MACFARLANE, 2019, p.48). Therefore, the drawings become the “physical remnants of a moment that you can hold” (MACFARLANE, 2019, p.48). They become a memory.
About the time of my work, I’m still unsure how to describe it. There is the time of the line, the time of the embroidery, the time of the act of looking. However, there is also the time of the representation, of the people that I’m portraying. Perhaps it becomes another threshold territory.
References
BERGER, J. (2007) Berger on drawing. London: Occasional Press.
Dryden Goodwin (2018) A day with my father, a day with my son [Pencil]. Available at: https://www.drydengoodwin.com/A_Day_with_my_Father_a_Day_with_my_Son.htm (Accessed: 05 apr. 2024).
KRACAUER, S. (1927) Memory images, in FARR, I. (ed.) Memory (Documents of Contemporary Art). London: Whitechapel Gallery.
MACFARLANE, K. (2019) Close: Drawn Portraits. London: Drawing Room.
Dryden Goodwin. A day with my father, a day with my son, 2018. Variable dimensions.