Memory palace review

Memory palace is a work of fiction by Hari Kunzru, with 20 specially commissioned installations by graphic designers, illustrators and typographers to create a walk-in book.

This story is set in a future London, many years after a magnetic storm that wiped out all technology and knowledge. London now in the dark ages, is full of ruins. Life is now based on simplicity, writing and art are banned. The narrator of the story is in prison accused of being part of a sect, who have revived the ancient 'Art of Memory'. The narrator uses his prison cell as his memory palace. As he uses this location for the things he has remembered.

I really liked the idea of the exhibition and found it very intriguing. By the exhibition being told like a story I found that I concentrated more and was engaged to the pieces around me. The pieces in the exhibition also made me think in depth about any meanings that they could have.

The memory palace exhibition reminded me of 'Plato's analogy of the cave'. The narrator can be compared to the prisoner that leaves the cave to discover the real world. This is because the narrator is locked in his cell holding onto memories of the past.

Le Gun

 This three-dimensional drawn installation is a memory fragment that recalls the practice of medicine and doctors. For me this piece really stood out in the exhibition. It was evident to understand that it was based on doctors due to the 'NHS' sign. However other aspects of the piece reminded me of various other ways of medicine practice. The driver of the cart reminded me of an African witch doctor due to the intricate mask it was wearing. I also started to think that the cart could be symbolic of when people used to travel by horse and cart many years ago. As well as this  also thought that the cart was like a meat wagon, the dead body in the back being the meat. However the foxes pulling the cart made the cart feel a bit more urban as foxes are a common animal in this present day. At first I thought the foxes were wolves, which made me think of years ago when wolves were a common animal living in England. I also found the fox smoking to be very ironic.

Mario Wagner

Mario Wagner depicted magnetisation, the massive magnetic storm. Here it is  clear to see the moment when people are lifted into the air. "They saw great waves of light and their screens spueded out their last sign and went dark". This is a mixed media collage piece. I particularly liked this piece as it looks different on the TV screen that was placed underneath it. For me the image came to life and told the story better as I was able to visualise the storm much more. Wagner is a German illustrator based in California. He creates large-scale paper collage works that bring together disparate elements from vintage magazines and juxtaposes them to create futuristic scenes.