Jessica Rolleston

Transparent Memories is a photographic archive that allows these memories to be held, shared, and passed on, giving something once personal, ordinary, or rich in story the opportunity to live on through others. Visitors can examine the enlarged prints, peer into the archive itself, or look closely at film negatives. The archive encourages participation rather than simply observation. Visitors can encapsulate a memory through a standalone photobooth. This allows them to become both the creators and subjects of the archive. Memories can be hard to hold on to, layered, and the core can change or disappear over time. Transparent Memories explores how design can revive memories of the people who have occupied the space before you, with you now, and to come. Large sweeping sheets of transparent paper flow throughout the space, hanging from the rafters and softening the sunlight peeking through. Separating screens, made from the same material, dividing the flow of people and creating pockets to reflect in, blurring the people in the space. Limestone lines the space. Bricks scour up the dividing walls between the entrance area and the archive. An assortment of braille-like bumps protrude, and holes regress into the bricks. Creating an area to “leave your mark,” eroding the limestone over time and the holes housing handwritten memories from the visitors.