Tracing Memory 2024
Tracing Memory
2024
Photogram on BW darkroom paper (artist’s grandfather’s shirt, developer, fixer), performance
120 x 144 in. (36 of tiled 20×24 in. prints)
"Tracing Memory" is a hauntingly evocative performance piece that dives into the interplay between memory, legacy, and the passage of time. Through a unique combination of materials and actions, the piece invites viewers on a visceral journey through the echoes of the past.
In "Tracing Memory" I immerse myself in a hazmat suit, a symbolic barrier between myself and the potent materials that form the core of the performance. At the center of the photo paper lies a uranium glass bowl, filled with photo developers—an eerie vessel that embodies the specter of nuclear legacy and familial history. With each movement, I dip my grandfather's shirt – a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima – into the developer, improvising splashes, drips, and swipes that intertwine with the image below.
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Tracing Memory (Performance documentation still) 2024
As the performance unfolds, the nature of the materials catalyzes a transformation—the once-blank photo paper begins to develop, revealing black and dark stains that slowly emerge as ghostly apparitions. These spectral imprints, including my own footprints, serve as tangible reminders of the past, hauntingly etched onto the surface of the paper.
"Tracing Memory" transcends the confines of traditional art forms to confront the complexities of memory and lineage. Through the alchemy of materials and movement, the piece offers a meditation on the lingering presence of the past and the ways in which it continues to shape our present. As viewers bear witness to the unfolding performance, they are invited to reflect on their own connections to history and the enduring power of the unseen forces that bind us together.
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Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by COCA.
Kei Ito
Japan
Kei Ito is an US-based interdisciplinary artist whose work is centered around utilizing the conceptual framework of photography to visualize the invisible. Mainly employing camera-less photographic techniques, performance, and artifacts, Ito creates large-scale installations and a variety of photographic projects that excavate hidden histories. As a third-generation atomic bomb victim living in the US, Ito employs his generational history as a series of case studies that often applies the language of monuments and memorials, initiating a journey of healing and growth while inviting audiences to explore nuanced social issues and honor the memories of those lost to both historical and contemporary tragedies.
Notably, his pieces are held in institutional collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Norton Museum of Art, the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, the Candela Collection, the Eskenazi Museum of Art, and the Georgia Museum of Art.