The Failure of Objects

The Failure of Objects is the story of a false memory. Ephemeral by nature, memory fade over time like our favorite t-shirt. We rely on objects to anchor our past to something concrete. Thanks to a lump of atoms we call a "pin," "cup," or "card holder," we bring to the surface a grain of memory lost in time. Starting from the recovery of family photographs torn from the flood of May 2023 in Emilia-Romagna, the project builds a journey through memories that weaves together the spaces of a childhood home and the moments framed on old photos saved from the waters. Just as water, by eroding the images has generated new ones, time alter our memories and create unexpected ones. Just as traumas generate false memories that never occurred, the waters gave life to non-existent yet real images. Photographs as objects do not provide an accurate representation of reality and memories because the memory of our experiences is a narrative, and rarely this narrative align with what actually happened.

Memories remain of what happens to us. Ephemeral by nature, they warp and fade over time like our favorite t-shirt. We rely on objects to anchor our past to something concrete. Like a powerful talisman, we accord the most ordinary stuff that fills our spaces the magical power to evoke a precious moment. Thanks to a lump of atoms we call a "pin," "cup," or "card holder," we bring to the surface a grain of memory, the fragment of an experience or emotions lost in our unconscious.
 
Though buried beneath trinkets and superfluous accessories, we know well that some of these objects hold more value than others. A value that is immeasurable and certainly not transferable. The things that trigger our memories stop being inert and become custodians of moments. Among the objects to which we ascribe innate testimonial power and guardians of memory, photographs occupy a privileged place in our imagination.
 
The boundaries of our memories are deeply personal, however, and for this reason, any reminiscence is inherently "false." Traumatic events or emotional excesses tend to ripple the resurfacing of recollection and to amalgamate with it particles of events conditioned by each subject's personal feelings.
 
Starting with the recovery of family photographs torn from the flood of May 2023 in Emilia-Romagna, an area in northern Italy, The Failure of Objects builds a narrative journey about memories that weaves together the familiar spaces of a childhood home and the special moments immortalized on old photographs that belonged to people affected by the flood and were recovered from the waters.
 
The work of cleaning the flooded photographs brought to light images unrelated to the space and time of photographic memories: images never captured but born from the imprint of the photograph on the materials of the album that preserved it. The project relies not only on the original mud-worn prints but also on the new images that the waters have impressed on the surfaces of the photo binders.
 
Just as water, by eroding the images, has generated new ones, time and personal experiences alter our memories and create unexpected ones. Just as traumas generate false memories that never occurred, the waters gave life to non-existent yet real images.
 
"The Failure of Objects" is the story of a false memory born from the trauma of loss and its encounter with other stories of loss. Objects do not provide an accurate representation of reality and memories because the memory of our experiences is a narrative, and rarely does this narrative align with what actually happened.