My project, Denk Ich an Sonneberg, introduced me to various theories related to memory, among them were Ethical Remembrance and Post-Memory. Roger Frie’s book, Not in My Family: German memory and responsibility after the holocaust and Marianne Hirsch’s book Family…
As a thought experiment, think about comparing the highly-processed magazine photograph of a fashion model standing on a runway against a grainy, black-and-white image of a derelict woman standing on the street. We might conclude that the former idealises, the…
The OED defines authentic as “Of undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine.” But is it that simple to determine if something is authentic? The concrete tree I referred to in an earlier post failed, in my mind, the authenticity…
When we visit a resort, we enter a space manufactured to be comfortable, relaxing, to fulfill a dream of some sort. It is a Manufactured Dreamscape. The dreamscape encourages us to look at it, to see and interpret what we…
My first reflections on authenticity came many years ago visiting the Swiss Family Robertson’s Tree House at Disneyland. From a distance I was impressed by the tree; its size and structure so convenient for hosting a tree house. It wasn’t…