Structures of Unremembering                                                             

Micaela Benedicto

18 October – 8 November 2014

In Structures of Unremembering, Micaela Benedicto constructs architectural objects and surface systems in fragments and segments, records their images on planes of mirrored steel using photogrammic methods, and reassembles them into new sculptural forms.

Appearing repeatedly and juxtaposed in varying positions, the photogrammed objects undergo changes and distortions, acting as compositional elements and instruments of light. In the resulting image, only certain aspects of these objects are rendered visible; they are never seen at once in their entirety. Re-fragmented and partially obscured, these objects are then integrated back into real space when the mirror planes that contain their trace-images are assembled into tactile, three-dimensional wholes.

The process is a study of the constitution of memory as a document of change, loss, and selection. By preserving chosen facets of objects on reflective surfaces, and by adjusting time and other variables in the creation of the images, the original formations are subject to discovery and chance. The reassembly of the image fragments into new, discernible wholes mimics attempts to create order out of transformations that have already taken place, to recognize connections between events, and to confine the projections in defined forms. In these final forms, viewers are able to see vague reflections superimposed on the re-membered images they contain. Thus, at any given period and from any perspective, the new object acquires a layer of both the past and the present, acting as a device that continues to select and shape moments in time and space.