Future Memory Void
Thesis Adviser: John Shnier
This thesis project situates itself in the post-earthquake city of Christchurch in New Zealand. Christchurch was struck by a devastating magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 2011 that was responsible for wiping out the core of this vibrant city and leaving some of the most beloved buildings in a state of ruin. Although elaborate plans for redevelopment have been made and are underway for the future as Christchurch once again aims to be the economic center of the Canterbury region — largely defined by the south east coast of the country.
I’d like to take this opportunity to contemplate. Through the power of drawing, my thesis project extracts the essence of a speculative space that provokes questions of historical preservation and commemoration of memory in Christchurch. My project questions the way in which we commemorate memory by rejecting the traditional idea of a monument and using space/place as a landmark Future memory void is a place where simultaneous histories (past, present and future) are presented to trigger individual and collective memory in order to highlight the fact that history is not chronological and memory is not linear. It is a perpetual journey through the presence of an absence — a pilgrimage without destination, which reorients one's sensibilities within the context of a city that is in the state of flux. The optimism of the future, the gravity of the past and the uncertainty of the present coexist in a liminal moment, which can only be experienced and understood through drawing.
