Nobody Knows I was there Nobody Knows I was Not There: Public Memory

Lin Jingjings work Nobody Knows I was there Nobody Knows I was Not There: Public Memory is an impressive panel of 88 photographs each one measuring 46 by 38 centimeters (18 by 14 3/8 inches). The photos themselves resemble black and white prints of familiar moments throughout ones life from current events to film stills with various solid colors poured in to wash out the whitespace. From afar the piece serves as a collective somewhat blurred compilation of famous memories stored in ones head shaken out onto a large canvas for visual consumption.A closer look however reveals a modern-day Impressionist twist as select portions of photographic subjects are actually neatly stitched through with thread obscured by tiny dashes forming horizontal lines. They represent the idea of how the public recalls visualizes and even distorts memories over time and that those fleeting events eventually succumb to color blindness and loss of detail. Internet immortality aside there is a bit of a chilling realization when one deduces that this inability to remember 100 percent of publicly-known events could also figure into private personal experiences as time passes.