Memory Palace for the Bureau of Self Recognition
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Date: 2012

Location: New York City

How can you document a walk with a walk?

In consultation with artist Chloë Bass and the Bureau of Self Recognition (2011-2013), I developed a custom exercise to answer this question.

I went on 30 walks and documented them with a memory palace, an ancient Greek technique for remembering.

The resulting memory palace was located in Astoria, Queens. 12 guests were invited to walk it with me and add their own memory image to the landscape.

Memory palaces use the strength of human spatial memory to record and retrieve memories. A specific space is chosen, and vivid symbols are placed throughout it. Each symbol is linked to a specific memory. To retrieve the memories, one simply imagines walking through the space.

The process of building a memory palace is relatively simple: decide what you want to remember and translate it into an image. Imagine it in a specific landscape (the location of your memory palace). The more vibrant, absurd or ridiculous the image, the easier it is to remember.

I repeated this technique in Former Fresnans, Home: A Nomadic Exploration and Slow Lunch.

To read more about my work with Chloë, see Walking Networks: The Development of an Artistic Medium (2020).

Participant Hannah Frishberg’s map of the memory palace (Source: Chloë Bass 2012).

Google the name of your town, city, or neighbourhood. Get directions to the location Google pins. Put down your phone and leave all maps behind. Walk to the pin.