Can a sensory experience bring an involuntary memory to the surface? Recycling Memories explores how smell and music can reconnect us with moments from our past.
The project grew out of my MFA research into memory, drawing on cognitive psychology, biology and storytelling. I interviewed people from different disciplines, including writers, artists, a mathematician and designers, about their experiences of sensory memories.
I used two of their stories as the starting point for a pair of objects. In the blue box, pressing a black pump releases a scent associated with a memory. Holding the wooden box to the ear reveals a faint song: a sound that feels close, yet remains difficult to grasp.
The orange box reverses this sequence. Its story begins with a song that evokes the memory of a smell. Together, the objects explore how one sensation can lead to another and how memories can be shared through an experience.
When I told visitors the stories behind the objects, some responded by sharing memories of their own. The project became a way to start personal conversations between strangers as well as an exploration of sensory memory.