Myself in 2011 (left) and my mum in 1989 (right)
A couple of weeks ago I was asked by Amber Ablett, an artist, curator and designer working in Bergen and London, whether I would like to be involved in an art project centred around people with a mixed heritage. Immediately I was intrigued by the idea. My heritage has always been something that I have had an acute awareness of but as I have little access to my dad's side it is not something that I have ever fully explored.
The project is centred around four Skype conversations, during which I have been asked to think of a childhood story and then relate this to the artist. From this initial conversation, which I have just carried out, key words will be extracted and sent back to me. I will then observe this list of words in order to see whether they spark off any other memories. Through a continuation of this process Amber should then be left with an accumulation of memories. The work will then be displayed on a four screen video installation where each screen will show 'break downs' of the original story. The narrative will switch between the four videos, becoming more and more confusing as the language breaks down further.
Instantly the project has sparked interest in me. As an English student the study of language is certainly familiar to me and the idea of exploring how certain words may bare traces of our past is intriguing. I am reminded of psychoanalysis, and in particular Freud's work, which claimed that much could be found in the way we relate our experiences - from the phrasing we use to the accent and tone of our voice. This is exactly what Amber intends to display through her project.
Although we are not specifically asked to relay stories that are focused solely on having a mixed heritage, the idea is to consider how having a multi-racial background has the potential to be particularly complex. Growing up this has been an inherent question, - the extent to which my heritage illuminates the person I am, particularly the side that I have little physical relation to. Perhaps what this project will allow is for me to discover how much my heritage factors into my present self. Once the project is complete I will complete a post reflecting on this question and the overall outcomes of the project, I am extremely excited to see the approach Amber takes and her finished piece.
My dad (centre) playing in a South African band in the early 70s.
