“…what is the point of mining the past if not to tell us something significant and potentially useful about the present, and to allow us to realize our roles as agents within it?”
(Vivian Rehberg, “Shock of the Old: What can the past do for the present?”, p.19 Frieze Oct 2010)
Although this was written in a slightly different context (mining art history rather than personal history), I have been thinking about it all day. I feel it is applicable to my own practice, in which I am constantly looking back into my memories of childhood; what is the point of mining my own past unless it can tell me “something significant and potentially useful” about my present? Furthermore, how can I ensure that the outcomes I produce from “mining” my past will be interesting and/or relevant to the viewer? Should my work aim to tell the viewer “something significant and potentially useful”? I need to keep these questions in mind whilst planning my work.
