Faded Memories (2020)

Wingel Mendoza: Faded Memories
Hochschule für Musik Mainz, Black Box
14 - 16.02

If nothing passed away, there would not be past time; and if nothing were coming, there would not be future time; and if nothing were, there would not be present time said ST. Augustine. Therefore, “Faded memories” deals with the projection of past memories, present and projection future in an interactive way represented by 3 acrylic panels. Each panel contains 2cassette players, one is recording and the other one is playing what was recorded with a 9 seconds delay, played by a speaker attached to the panel. The sound of each panel represents the past, present, and future. For the past panel, the sounds are different recordings I did, such as urban sounds from different cities, natural environments from different countries, and pieces I composed, the past could be only triggered by the presence of the audience by a movement sensor. The panel of present contains the sound of the electromagnetism produced by my computer in real-time meanwhile it´s playing the local news. The sounds of the future are the convolution of the past and the present and it is only activated when the panel of the past is triggered too. The panels of past and present are translucid and the future is a white one. Images are displayed by a projector going through the panels. Since the past and present are translucent the projection can only be seen in the third panel (Future). The images are memories of different places I have been, related to the sources of sounds of the past because the images are generated by the sounds. Without memories, we are not conscious of our present and therefore the future wouldn´t be clear. Every panel reacts to the other one, without the panel of the Past, there are no sounds in the panel of the future and without the presence of someone, the only panel working is the present, because the present is always going on.