Temporal shifts and the role of memory

Quote from Field Notebook

I move away up the bank I've moved up and down before away from Shomere toward a tree-fall to do again and a messy tree scene. Vegetation resists me much more and I cannot see the uneven ground for brambles and a sticky plant I cannot remember the name of. I occasionally stumble.
Ist - Tree-fall #8 revisited. Last time I fragmented the image by proximity to the lens of branches, this time leaves.
2nd visit to the messy trees I literally stumbled upon on the way to "blue land". I nearly didn't make a work. This hesitancy is due to the ever present mosquitoes. I stop and they try to bite me. They do bite me. I set up in roughly the same position as before and shoot fast with a single focal point, as I did on the first occasion.

For the moment, I am considering these pieces as diptyches ;

Treefall #8 Versions #1&2

Untitled (rhizomatic) Versions #1&2


Each of the second versions of these works where made entirely from memory of the first pieces. I never take prints into the environment with me, as I see the role of memory, of remembering the scene itself as I saw it before and the subsequent works made as an important part of the process of making.

The aim is not to make each image as close to the previous version as possible; this is not an analysis of purely observable changes, but also an acknowledgement that memory is not precise, not entirely factual, but partly fictional. Partly by omission, but also because memory is not  location specific, but dependant on stimuli, other places and times are randomly evoked in the process of remembering and therefore connections are made to other places, as well as to the site inhabited at the time of remembering.
Memory is also a vital part of understanding specific environments, of the process of developing a connection to places over time through repeated visits during habitation. An important element in developing connections to environments that we inhabit is the observation of change. Change is constant, those of us who live life rooted for a long time in one environment are those that notice the changes keenly in their (kn)own place. The process of recognising change builds layers of memories specific to that place and forms the individual's understanding of the identity of the place they occupy. This is enforced by memories of other places, remembrances of differences and similarities that build a matrix of understanding that is multi- centred, not fixed to the specific. Knowing one place is therefore enhanced by knowledge of other places, through memory.

The use of Rhizomatic in the title of the second diptych alludes to the concept of the rhizomatic as put forward by Deleuze & Gittari in 1000 plateaus; Capitalism and schizophrenia and is not a reference to the biological meaning of Rhizome. In this case it alludes to sets of relationships between multiple elements that are capable of merging together from seemingly disparate sources. Deleuze & Gittari put this forward as an anti-genealogical, relational stance that is expanded on in the work of Tim Ingold in The perception of the environment; Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. Here Ingold uses the rhizomatic to investigate how our perception of the environment around us is strongly linked to our memories of past experiences, that are not necessarily connected to the environment being inhabited directly.

The second version of tree-fall #8 is in need of re-processing. As alluded to earlier, the question of how close I am to elements in the works is something I am working on. In this case the fragmented leaves in the centre of the work are too dominant, interrupting the coherence of the piece excessively.