Big Picture: Crudely erased adults

Based upon scientific research that demonstrates how susceptible we are to false memories, A.R. Hopwood’s False Memory Archive exhibition features artworks and an ever-expanding collection of vivid personal accounts of things that never really happened. Including a display of manipulated photographs of UFO sightings and a collaboration with a fictional security guard (pictured here in ‘Crudely Erased Adults, 1/6’), Hopwood’s work evocatively reflects the way we creatively reconstruct our sense of the past, while providing insight into the often humorous, obscure and uncomfortable things people have misremembered.

Hopwood has collaborated with psychologists to revisit key experiments, reflecting on the history and consequences of this provocative field of memory research including with Professor Elizabeth Loftus (University of California, Irvine) and Professor Christopher French (Goldsmiths College). The works collectively explore where the truth lies in a ‘false’ recollection, while questioning how a blend of fact and fiction can be used to challenge assumptions about memory.

Other works include an LP of silences from a memory experiment, Jackie Kennedy’s Chanel suit re-made and a ‘remote’ past life regression reading by a psychic called Crystal. Touring venues include The Mead Gallery in Coventry, The Exchange in Penzance, the Freud Museum London, and the University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery (including a presentation by Professor Sergio Della Sala on 19 April). A.R. Hopwood’s False Memory Archive is supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust, Arts Council England and Creative Scotland.

You can view more about the project and submit a false or ‘non-believed’ memory here: www.falsememoryarchive.com.

Download PDF for poster.