New Project, Clearer Ideas

So for my last project I am going to do a proposal for a project.  The project would require gallery space and a lot of work so that is why I'm doing a proposal for it rather than doing it.  The project would be called Memories: Closed.  The project would be looking at memories and how they affect us.  How traumatic or hurtful ones can cause us to try to seal ourselves off from ever repeating the same mistakes or experiencing the same painful sensation.  However with trying to avoid experiencing that pain again we end up missing out on new memories that could be good, or we trap ourselves with those old hurtful memories.

Memories: Closed would be part performance and part gallery show.  Located in the gallery would be a large wooden trunk, one that is large enough for a person to fit in.  Surrounding the trunk would be tapestries with digital art and images of past memories.  Some of the images would be normal photographs taken in good times but blurred a bit or altered to show memory affects.  Maybe even bring up the contrast and bright colors some to stress how we exemplify the good memories, sometimes making them better than they even were because that's how we remember them.  (And vice versa for the bad memories.)  Then leading up to the trunk would be more disturbing images, more grayed or blurred images much like my dreams after my best friend died.

On opening night the trunk would be opened.  The viewers entering the gallery could look inside the trunk and see that there are hundreds of snapshots or written down memories on paper in it.  At some point the performer would enter the gallery with all of the images everywhere and look to one of the tapestries with brighter memories.  They would rip the tapestry off of the way and then take it into the trunk.  Afterward they would lock themselves inside of the trunk and a sign would be hung on the outside saying MEMORIES ONLY.  (The trunk would be designed to let the person breathe comfortably because they would stay there for the rest of the show.)  Underneath the area where the performer yanked down the tapestry would be a space to reflect a projection off of.  The projection would start up with animations/video/images about the performer's memory, all skewed because memory is never as accurate as we like to think it it.

The action of the performer locking themselves in a trunk full of snapshots is a metaphor for when people lock themselves in their own minds with memories.  Getting stuck in them its hard to move on and see that there is still the present and future.  

The next part I'm not sure about, but is a possibility:
The trunk would have a slit on the side and there would be paper and pencil somewhere in the gallery with instructions to write down a memory and put it in the trunk.  That way viewers could become participants and share a memory.  The instructions would read something like:  "Share a good memory and I'll share in the happiness of that day."  Or "Share a sad memory and I'll weep with you."  Or even, "Share in an unimportant memory and we'll make it important."  Just something to make it more interactive and so people won't just be walking into the performer's memories.  Kind of like crossing memories, joining them, bringing new light to them, etc.