Memory Palace exhibit at the CAC and the work of Mike Womack

During a visit to the CAC in Cincinnati, I chose to focus on a piece titled "Hypnosis Drawing #3" which was showcased in the "Memory Palace" exhibit. The piece was created by Mike Womack, a sculpture and installation artist who who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and Boulder, Colorado. The piece is part of a group of 14 sculpture based works that act as mnemonic mausoleums. This body of work was conceived in the winter of 2011, while the artist was caring for his ailing mother, who was struggling with long and short term memory. Having a prior interest in various scientific subjects and theories (including mirror neurons), Womack came across the work of neuroscientist Yadin Dudai and was struck by his comment that recollections are corrupted each time one thinks of them, and thus “the safest memories are those in the brain of people who cannot remember."

Womack compiled a list of compelling memories and worked with a hypnotherapist to retrieve the unrecalled memories. During the sessions, the artist, an accomplished draftsman, would make charcoal drawings of each memory before the hypnotist instructed him to forget the content of their sessions. With the help of the therapist and an assistant, the drawings were covered, catalogued by the memory and the artist’s age at the time, and then never seen by the artist.