Ephemeral ideas

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Amplify by Yves Behar

Memory, the vital force of human life, is contradictorily both fleetingly transient and stubbornly permanent. However, it is what really makes us human.

Depicting memory in art is a tough challenge, especially memory in the fast developing digital age. “The meaning of memory in the digital age, with the demise of the analogue era our relationship and connection with personal memory, photographs, diaries, letters, time and ephemera is changing,” says Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum in London, which commissioned 15 artists to present their vision of memory by using crystals as a form of expression.
The museum in collaboration with Swarovski challenged contemporary artists to create depictions of memory in digital age for the Digital Crystal exhibition. The result is an amazing array of exhibits, ranging from a machine that creates a new product every time it is operated, exploring emotional connections with short-lived products, to a crystal ring which reveals the profile of a polar bear in its cross-section to holographic prints created at the centre of a table.
“We have always been interested in what memory will be once analogue and digital start taking different emphasis,” the curator of the exhibition, Nina Due, said, adding that the choice of the designers for the exhibition was dictated by the interest of the artists in digital technology.
The digital input in the exhibits is not always immediately apparent, says Nina about the digital aspect of the exhibits, giving the example of South Korean artist Park Hye-Yeon’s crystal ring, which has hidden profile of a polar bear in its cross-section, not apparent from outside.
“The crystal ring seems ordinary as far as physicality of it is concerned, but its production was totally digital in its concept,” she reveals.
Wrapping Crystal by London-based Swedish-Chilean designer Anton Alvarez is an enigma as it creates a new item every time it is operated without there being any uniformity in the finished product. “It’s a new way of creating understanding about creating a new piece,” says Anton, who designed the machine that uses crystal yarn to create a new item every time the machine is used. “There is no plan behind it. It’s all in the moment.”
Explaining the collaboration with Swarovski, Nina says, “There are two sides to Swarovski – one is the high street version which is famous for jewellery and the other is production of innovative design.”