Di.O.ram.a: Constructing a Virtual Memory

Di.O.ram.a: Constructing a Virtual Memory

Dennis Kratz are collaborative interdisciplinary artists (Sarah-Mace Dennis and Svenja Kratz) whose work experiments with the possible interactions between diverse disciplines including photo-media, film, sound, installation, performance, interactive environments and critical and creative writing.

“Di.o.rama: Constructing a Virtual Memory uses language as an entry point for exploring historical memory and the way it is affected by an environment increasingly mediated by new technologies.  Developed through a computer mediated collaboration that included various emergent writing processes, including email, blogging and posts to various websites – the work extends on concerns explored by the artists during a seven week residency in Hill End, a historic gold mining village in regional NSW where the artists became interested in the way that new technologies could be used to record and interpret sites heavy with nostalgia and historic value.

As the title suggests, Di.o.rama – Constructing a Virtual Memory, uses the concept of the diorama as a conceptual framework. When those engaging with the project click on different parts of each diorama, they are led to a new part of the work, where another section of the story is revealed.  Although the project uses historical stories as a conceptual platform, the dioramas not only talk about the stories from the past, but also combine recordings and memories of time spent in Hill End in 2004.  In this way, the work deals with history’s fictions as much as it deals with facts. Rather than attempting to construct things the way they once were, the artists explore concepts of  historical mythology – stories that are mediated and changed through our contemporary experiences.” – Dennis Kratz

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