as long as you have a memory you have something to search for

secret beach, prince edward county - monica lacey 201

My former fellow resident, Jessica (she's gone home to Atlanta now), introduced me to Radiolab podcasts recently - it's a show produced by WNYC and it is excellent.  Each episode they pick a theme/topic (usually of a philosophical nature) & then they take a relatively lighthearted, well-edited look at that topic from a variety of angles.  I listened to one about memory the other day with her & it was riveting.  It really highlighted the importance of this faculty we so often take for granted.  If you speak to anyone who has gone through, or has had a loved one go through any kind of memory loss, you find out that life just isn't the same without your memories.  It's largely how we make sense of our world and yet it is so delicate and tenuous.  Interesting to think about how our memories are always changing - we're forever examining them from new angles, and with new eyes.

I suppose I have memory on my mind because I've identified it as a major theme in my work and as something I am interested in exploring in depth.  As a photographer, when I capture an image, I often think of how that image will later be part of the construct of a memory of a specific moment & am made aware of how it is capturing only a fragment of the moment and that the rest will be filled in by whosoever is remembering.

I’ve been making a lot of new memories here, meeting great folks & enjoying the beautiful scenery.  This past weekend was spent doing some glorious beach-hopping with my sister, who drove down from Toronto.  We were given some tips by Chrissy about 'secret' beaches where you have to drive down 4-wheeler tracks, but when you get to the water it is worth every pothole.  I can see why people retire here - it's a lot like PEI, in that you can have a very, very high quality of life.  It was also good for me to take some time off from thinking about art, talking about art, making art.  No one can work every day.  :)

back road, prince edward county - monica lacey 2011

Just the other day we had an amazing thunderstorm, which apparently turned into a tornado in some areas.  When I heard today about the tornado-damage, my first reaction was to want to go and photograph it.  It made me wonder if I’m getting too detached from trauma for my own good, with all these abandoned and damaged places I love to frequent.  But I guess that’s part of the work of the artist – to reach through where other things can’t and to stand the pain (or the joy) so as to record it and express it in some way.  Memory.