Another of these now frequent moments of closure for the course, it's been a week of them. This was Iceland in August last year, the same time the Masters' show was happening. I was gutted to miss it but I had this years's show to look forward to.......
It's not a particularly good photo, but for me it summarizes visually much of my research to date. In Pierce's terms the reflection in the window, an index which has many strands of personal connection. In Barthesian terms it is also that bit of the image which 'pricked' me. In Situationists's terms it was a journey with no plan and in Perec's terms it's of the infra-ordinary. It's not an image I would use in a memory suitcase at work. Without the reflection it says very little to me. But it did prick me when I opened it. The reflection confusing, a curve ball to distract time and narrative. What do you call an image which fits all these criteria - memory trigger? Scientists may be divided on the cognitive benefits of reminiscence therapy, but asking questions of these objects from a different perspective has justified my continued belief in them as a library resource. For me it's about the being-there -in-the-now moments of joy that these objects facilitate. Reflecting on all this, I asked myself which three objects I would save in a fire. Following the pattern of health care professionals I asked, it would be photographs of family, wedding, pets. But for me it would be a bowl, a lamp and a camera. These would be in my suitcase.
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susan CassieRamblings of a student in self-isolation. Archives
August 2020
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