Designing Memory: What prevents past tragedies from recurring—objects or ideas?
This post is a quick English translation of an article I originally wrote in Turkish, which was published by Radikal Newspaper's monthly Design supplement on 28 February 2010.
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Last January witnessed hundreds of people gather in front of the Agos Newspaper headquarters for the third anniversary of Hrant Dink's assassination. The slain journalist's son Arat Dink delivered an impromptu speech to those who gathered in memory of his father. Halfway through his public address, he pointed toward the Agos offices and said the following: "Placed inside is a memorial bust depicting my father. I want to demolish it. I like people, not busts." These words, which may first come across as a sentimental outcry, in effect indicate an important call for designers. They may even be perceived as a contemporary design critique regarding the problematic relationship between 'memory', and artifacts that are designed to keep it alive.
If the essential purpose is to remember and commemorate past tragedies, and perhaps to also prevent their recurrence, how effectively this purpose is served by object-oriented design 'solutions' is highly questionable. Be it a bust or a museum, it is possible to argue that more than keeping the memory of past tragedies alive, these 'objects,' on the contrary, bury them forever in the depths of history. Recent history is teeming with case examples whereby such tragedies end up being instrumentalized in order to serve a number of very different purposes. Relatively more innocent forms of such instrumentalization are embodied by the phenomenon of dark tourism. Yet worst cases occur when such objects are employed as props in rituals, which then lead to the mobilization of masses that often create new tragedies. Here, it would be apt to tune into Kemal, who is the main character of Orhan Pamuk's last novel Museum of Innocence. How does he elaborate on his idea of founding a museum in memory of his lost love?
Nükhet İpekçi showing her father's bloody shirt to TV cameras
Another recent event that helped museum discussions in Turkey gain momentum was the 30th anniversary of Abdi İpekçi's assassination. The slain newspaper editor's daughter Nükhet İpekçi exhibited to TV cameras his father's bloody shirt in demand for justice. By doing so, she kickstarted discussions of founding a museum in memory of slain journalists like İpekçi and Dink. An idea that quickly gained popularity was that this museum should display objects which used to belong to those journalists. But perhaps the most interesting remark as part of this larger debate came from another assassinated journalist Uğur Mumcu's daughter Özge Mumcu. She said that such museum should display not only objects, but also ideas.
The notion of 'ideas' that Mumcu put forth vis-à-vis that of 'objects' points toward new horizons for design's relationship to memory. In fact, the past few years have witnessed works of design that adopt novel approaches regarding this relationship. These works focus on representing ideas and helping them to be openly articulated. A recent example to those works is Rafael Lozano Hemmer's "Voz Alta" (Loud Voice) project, which was installed in Mexico City in 2008. Hemmer says he was briefed to design a piece in memory of the 40th anniversary of the Tlatelolco student massacre. What the Mexican artist did was not to generate yet another object-oriented 'solution,' but instead allow people to voice their opinions through a system that consisted of a few components. As these people were sharing their statements with the wider public, they also practically controlled a 10 kW projector, which the artist installed at the "Plaza de las Tres Culturas" square where the massacre had taken place. What is more, the intensity of the light sent out by this projector would change according to that of the soundwaves transmitted through the megaphone. If the megaphone was silent, the projector did not send out any light. When the light at the square was dimmed, then the three projectors across the square at the rooftop of the Cultural Center would start to work. These projectors would turn into light the sounds of the interviews with survivors, old radio recordings and popular songs from the time of the massacre. By doing so, this work was able to blend together memories from a past tragedy and the everyday reality of the present. And, in case anyone was curious about what was actually being said into the megaphone, all statements that went into the system were broadcast through a local radio station called UNAM. The "Voz Alta" project witnessed thousands of people participate without any moderation or censorship. Naturally, the messages transmitted through the megaphone ranged from marriage proposals to statements coming from survivors of the massacre.
View from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's "Voz Alta" project.
(Photo: Antimodular Research and Alejandro Blázquez)
Last year's urban riots in Greece witnessed young protesters utilize, in a rather unforeseen way, a monument depicting one of the most respected heroes of the country. What the protesters did was to take down the bust of the anti-Nazi hero Kostas Perrikos, in order to use it as a building block in their barricades against the police force. This unique choice was put under scrutiny by old revolutionaries, who accused the youth of being ignorant toward history, and of disrespecting past heroes. However, may we not suggest that the young protesters in Greece, just like Arat Dink, realized what purpose is really served by busts? As far as design is concerned, recent history suggests that such objects do not 'perform' so successfully in preventing the recurrence of past tragedies. Therefore, what 'users' could better do is perhaps to attribute new roles to those stagnant objects; to somehow give life to them by demolishing the myths that they have long been in the center of. And, designers' contribution may happen by producing dynamic mediators that will help ideas and emotions to be freely communicated.
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Last January witnessed hundreds of people gather in front of the Agos Newspaper headquarters for the third anniversary of Hrant Dink's assassination. The slain journalist's son Arat Dink delivered an impromptu speech to those who gathered in memory of his father. Halfway through his public address, he pointed toward the Agos offices and said the following: "Placed inside is a memorial bust depicting my father. I want to demolish it. I like people, not busts." These words, which may first come across as a sentimental outcry, in effect indicate an important call for designers. They may even be perceived as a contemporary design critique regarding the problematic relationship between 'memory', and artifacts that are designed to keep it alive.
If the essential purpose is to remember and commemorate past tragedies, and perhaps to also prevent their recurrence, how effectively this purpose is served by object-oriented design 'solutions' is highly questionable. Be it a bust or a museum, it is possible to argue that more than keeping the memory of past tragedies alive, these 'objects,' on the contrary, bury them forever in the depths of history. Recent history is teeming with case examples whereby such tragedies end up being instrumentalized in order to serve a number of very different purposes. Relatively more innocent forms of such instrumentalization are embodied by the phenomenon of dark tourism. Yet worst cases occur when such objects are employed as props in rituals, which then lead to the mobilization of masses that often create new tragedies. Here, it would be apt to tune into Kemal, who is the main character of Orhan Pamuk's last novel Museum of Innocence. How does he elaborate on his idea of founding a museum in memory of his lost love?
"I want to teach not only the Turkish people but the world at large how to take pride in life. I have traveled, and seen for myself: Western peoples know well how to take pride, while others live in shame. But when things we are ashamed of in life are exhibited in museums, they instantly turn into things that are to be taken pride in" (2008. İstanbul: İletişim Yayıncılık A.Ş. Pages 571-2).
Nükhet İpekçi showing her father's bloody shirt to TV camerasAnother recent event that helped museum discussions in Turkey gain momentum was the 30th anniversary of Abdi İpekçi's assassination. The slain newspaper editor's daughter Nükhet İpekçi exhibited to TV cameras his father's bloody shirt in demand for justice. By doing so, she kickstarted discussions of founding a museum in memory of slain journalists like İpekçi and Dink. An idea that quickly gained popularity was that this museum should display objects which used to belong to those journalists. But perhaps the most interesting remark as part of this larger debate came from another assassinated journalist Uğur Mumcu's daughter Özge Mumcu. She said that such museum should display not only objects, but also ideas.
The notion of 'ideas' that Mumcu put forth vis-à-vis that of 'objects' points toward new horizons for design's relationship to memory. In fact, the past few years have witnessed works of design that adopt novel approaches regarding this relationship. These works focus on representing ideas and helping them to be openly articulated. A recent example to those works is Rafael Lozano Hemmer's "Voz Alta" (Loud Voice) project, which was installed in Mexico City in 2008. Hemmer says he was briefed to design a piece in memory of the 40th anniversary of the Tlatelolco student massacre. What the Mexican artist did was not to generate yet another object-oriented 'solution,' but instead allow people to voice their opinions through a system that consisted of a few components. As these people were sharing their statements with the wider public, they also practically controlled a 10 kW projector, which the artist installed at the "Plaza de las Tres Culturas" square where the massacre had taken place. What is more, the intensity of the light sent out by this projector would change according to that of the soundwaves transmitted through the megaphone. If the megaphone was silent, the projector did not send out any light. When the light at the square was dimmed, then the three projectors across the square at the rooftop of the Cultural Center would start to work. These projectors would turn into light the sounds of the interviews with survivors, old radio recordings and popular songs from the time of the massacre. By doing so, this work was able to blend together memories from a past tragedy and the everyday reality of the present. And, in case anyone was curious about what was actually being said into the megaphone, all statements that went into the system were broadcast through a local radio station called UNAM. The "Voz Alta" project witnessed thousands of people participate without any moderation or censorship. Naturally, the messages transmitted through the megaphone ranged from marriage proposals to statements coming from survivors of the massacre.
View from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's "Voz Alta" project.(Photo: Antimodular Research and Alejandro Blázquez)
Last year's urban riots in Greece witnessed young protesters utilize, in a rather unforeseen way, a monument depicting one of the most respected heroes of the country. What the protesters did was to take down the bust of the anti-Nazi hero Kostas Perrikos, in order to use it as a building block in their barricades against the police force. This unique choice was put under scrutiny by old revolutionaries, who accused the youth of being ignorant toward history, and of disrespecting past heroes. However, may we not suggest that the young protesters in Greece, just like Arat Dink, realized what purpose is really served by busts? As far as design is concerned, recent history suggests that such objects do not 'perform' so successfully in preventing the recurrence of past tragedies. Therefore, what 'users' could better do is perhaps to attribute new roles to those stagnant objects; to somehow give life to them by demolishing the myths that they have long been in the center of. And, designers' contribution may happen by producing dynamic mediators that will help ideas and emotions to be freely communicated.
Labels: activism, concept, design, experience, ideology, social
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