Matter of Memory

Discovering the shape of Trauma 2022, Team Working in ZHdK
Lead Tutor: Stella Speziali, Lisa Ochsenbein
Team member: Fatimah Ardennes Ornati, Hannah Park, Sacha Olivier Schwarz, Klara Troost.

‘Matter of Memory’ simulation with XR

How can we record the shape of memories and share it in Analogue and Digital?

[Matter Of Memory] is a hybrid archive which aims to bring substance to memories and sound to thoughts. People’s reminiscencences are visible in a virtual, infinite space, which can be observed through the lenses of virtual reality.

With this hypothesis in mind, we choose some broken wood and moss from the Zurich forest (reality), combined these in cyber space, and found that two completely different physical properties could be mixed together to become a new heritage value.

In the process, we thought about what kind of ‘hybrid archiving’ would be the most valuable and timeless.

We decided to convert ‘hybrid properties’ into [memory, value, and texture] following work in progress into Vision, Hearing, and Touch. And we transform the intangible thing called "First Memory" into tangible value. To do this we randomly interviewed people of various ages in Zurich, and collected their memories.

In order to more vividly realise the memories of the interviewees, which exist only in simple lines and language, we went through a process of specifying the material and expressing it with touch.

For example, ‘Memory of Klara’ was converted into 3D objects with different materials and surfaces to express the ‘outside of the moment’. All real objects were 3d printed using various

The spectators are thus involved in a dual performance, a symbiosis connecting the analogue and the digital, the physical and cyber. This project brings substance to memories, sound for interpretation and wonder, which could be one day used to ensure a more equal and wiser future.