Dead and Alive: Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas

Paper given at the first 'Headstone to Hard Drive' Symposium at CSM. It addressed questions of memory in reference to Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas, particularly in relation to how 'supports' and 'dispositifs' can be discussed in this context.

'Headstone to Hard Drive, Monument to Folly 1' was the first of three symposia addressing the issues of exteriorisation, technique and technology as they affect, inform and construct the 'visual' arts. Taking its cue from André Leroi-Gourhan’s theory of exteriorisation, the event considered the agency of technology and media as a co-author of content, a fact that imbues media with an inherent semiotic and physiologic power and relevance.

The aim was to consider the consequences and effects for critical and artistic practices of the ”liberation of memory” performed by technical prosthesis, a “liberation” about which Leroi-Gourhan and others have written extensively.

This first event, drawing from staff at Central Saint Martins, included presentations by Karl Baker, Mick Finch, Louisa Minkin, Daniel Rubinstein, Martin Westwood, Judy Willcocks and Elizabeth Wright, covering a range of diverse topics: the performative character of the Derridean supplement; Aby Warburg’s ‘Mnemosyne Atlas’; digital epistemology; anti- photography and non-representation; monuments, spolia and conserved ruins/follies; archival practice – cultural translation and digital democracy; chaîne opératoire and the copy. There was also a new video presentation by Clunie Reid made specifically for the event.

• http://events.arts.ac.uk/event/2014/10/2...