Your Past Our Future
In my research, I explore the ways one can re/de-construct their identity by manipulating photographic archives of their ancestors. I am basing my research on the notion of transgenerational transmission and the idea that our identity is heavily impacted by the experiences and lives of our ancestors. In particular I see skin as the archive of the transgenerational transmission but I extend the notion of the skin as tied to a physical body and take photos as skin sites where the transgenerational archive resides. Through collage practice, I am looking at the past in order to create new present and future narratives. By working on archives, I am also concerned with the responsibility, personal and shared, that such actions of deconstruction can carry in the future.
The way I approach transgenerational transmission is through epigenetics and through working on the genosociogram. Epigenetics is the study of the heritable changes due to the environment (i.e. traumatic experiences) occurring in the reading of the genes, without altering the DNA sequence. (Lehrner, 2018, 1764). The etymology of epigenetics reveals that it is a study on the origins (genesis) and what is added upon the DNA (prefix epi-). What is argued is that experiences of ancestors can be so impactful that have the capacity to affect the genomes of the next generations. The genosociogram, a tool used by family therapists is an extended family tree noting key moments of the ancestors' lives, relations between individuals, repetitions across generations and patterns of coincidences. The genosociogram aids to examine the transgenerational transmission, by understanding not only information that has been verbalized but also these that haven't. By working through the genosociogram one is able to recognize the characteristics of their identity as well the patterns in their lives that have been shaped by the transgenerational transmission. In my research, by building my genosociogram, collecting and studying various photo archives of all my ancestors, and by manipulating them through collage, I am interested in re-constructing the past in order to understand the present and create future narratives. Although the focal point is the reconstruction of the past, it has become clear to me that in my portfolio in the final submission of my dissertation I want to switch the focus to the future generations. What archives am I leaving behind?
During the module I was inspired by Katie Paterson's 'Future Library (2014-2114)', a project that has been designed so as that since 2014 and every year, a writer submits a text that will not be read or published until the year 2114 when a planted forest in Oslo, Norway will supply the paper. This is a project that takes place long-term and assumes trust for its execution and completion. Further than this, it is a project that refers to the future generations, by not only gifting them a capsule containing the past, but also engaging them and asking them to actualize it. Paterson will never see for herself if and how her project will be concluded, and neither will most of the writers, whose work will not be read until 2114. Thinking ahead and long-term such as in this project, sparkles discussions about the responsibility we share in the present for the future generations but more specifically, the connections we wish to establish with them.
Inspired by Paterson, during the module I imagined and drafted a long-term project that would begin now and would have no ending date in the future. This project would be activated in time connecting all the future descendants of an individual with their ancestors. I would gather about 100 individuals who in collaboration with tattoo artists would design a tattoo that contained the story of their ancestors. Each individual's future descendant would then 'inherit' this tattoo indefinitely. Again, with the guidance of a tattoo artist, each would have to transform what they inherited, inform it with the recent ancestors, embody it and again pass it on. The idea is that the archive of the transgenerational transmission would in this way be an active physical archive, transforming in time, always in relation to the past, holding the passages to past and future connected and accessible. The tattoos are something I want to investigate further in the future as they have to do a lot with the construction of the identity, are acted upon skin and have an persistent character. I will not elaborate on this further however, because I have decided to slightly change my hypothetical project since although conceptually my research is there, I want to bring in forward some important key points that are now missing. In my first hypothesis I talked about the tattoos because working with skin is a part of my research. As I mentioned above, I see the photos of my ancestors that I work with, as skin sites. This means that I am treating the surfaces of the printed paper as skin and therefore even the actions taken upon (gluing, tearing apart, sewing, layering, etc.) are in conjunction with actions taken upon the skin. In my first hypothesis, I speculated on a possibility of acting upon actual skin, as I wanted to explore what that could offer to the process of my research, but as I want to focus back on its main components, I will continue by specifically exploring the photographic archives.
Hypothesis: What if possible descendants inherited manipulated photographic archives of their ancestors and were asked to transform them further before they handed them on to the next generations?
Similar to what I described above, I am continuing with the idea of a long term indefinite project that would connect the unknown futures with each of their pasts and presents. Each future will at some point inevitably become past and therefore this project as an ongoing practice would be progressively enriched as an archive. The speculative part regards the ongoing practice into the future, the collective continuation as well as the effects on the descendants. In contrast to my first proposal, the individuals wouldn't need to collaborate with a third person (tattoo artist) and in this way the transformation of the archive would be a personal process without external input. The transgenerational archive wouldn't be literally inscribed on skin, yet the very basis of my argument is that we each carry the archive within and upon us either way. Therefore, the photos are introduced here are symbolic skin sites where one can intervene on. With this intervention new ways of looking at the past appear, therefore new ways of looking at identity in each present. With each intervention new stories are being told and the archives are put in continuous transformation open to offer indefinite alternative narratives. Archive in constant change, past in constant change, identity reconstructed in change. However it is important to mention the obvious; Although in constant change, the archive is always an archive. In particular, the photographs carry with them, the traces of 'what has been' (Barthes, 1980) and this is important because it doesn't allow for a disruption in what connects past and future. Are the photo archives in my hypothesis time capsules? As much as they are they also aren't. On the one hand they are the traces of what has happened and so they carry the past within them. On the other hand, they are not frozen in time, they are not untouchable of change, and the passing time is inscribed in them as they go through the transformations through the generations.
I would like at this point to introduce the idea of the palimpsest, a notion that has sparkled my research in the first place and that still works as the anchor of my process. A palimpsest is a document whose surface has been scrapped off in order to be reused again for further inscriptions. The palimpsest then is always available for future inscriptions while always keeping a record of the past. I will now dissect some aspects of my hypothesis and research under the notion of the palimpsest. First of all skin can be considered a palimpsest since its top layer, epidermis is always in a condition of shedding off. However, it is always replaced by the cells underneath, and therefore what emerges is traces of its core. At the same time the surface can always welcome in new inscriptions. This layering is also happening in the archives. As objects they are manipulated and changed but their core as an archive is what constitutes even these transformations possible. Identity can also be seen as a palimpsest. Deriving from the deep past of the ancestors, yet in constant transformation, it can be significantly modified, yet its roots are to deep to be unchained. Finally the hypothesis I am proposing can also be seen as a palimpsest in time. It derives from photos of the past, layered with constant transformations in each present and always available for future interventions.
Implications:
Our era is already characterized by an archive obsession. We do not only obsess about the past before us but the self-archiving practices have been much more prevalent since the use of social media that provide such tools of organization and self-archivization. Either in a constant mode of archiving the present, or romanticizing the past, we tend to often miss the present. Of course every present is already a past, but my speculative scenario could perhaps make things worse, by over-emphasizing the relation of identity with past archives.
What if the archives got lost? Research has shown for example that adolescents who find out that they are adopted, suddenly feel a loss of identity over the confusion of understanding who they are when their past is unknown to them (Heath, 2012, 12). So what if these archives got lost? The implications on the subjects would be very complicating and would probably affect more than one generation, since a long sense of past would be lost.
Although it is so important for the identity formation to know the past, it is equally significant to have the right for new beginnings and the right to be in the world without carrying the actions of the ancestors on one's back. My hypothesis could possibly enable stigmatization of individuals regarding the lives of their ancestors.
Who is considered a descendant? What happens when the lineage is broken? Paradoxically, I can even speak from a personal perspective, as a person who doesn't wish to have kids, I do find hard to relate to such hypothesis, yet at the same time I do imagine future descendants. How could I have descendants without having kids? I am not arguing for 'blood' relations either way. Although in my research I take reference from the field of epigenetics, I consider that family can even be people who are not biologically related. Therefore, who could be considered my descendant?
Of course there is also a question of ethics. If descendants transform their inheritance into how they want to narrate the past, there is also a responsibility into what they bequeath to the next generations. What are the consequences of inheriting a manipulated past and what are the implications on the formation of identity?
A practical matter concerns whether the inherited archives are the original ones or not. In my research, I work with copies of archives. Yet, in such project, would that be the same case? I would argue that the originals should be the ones used and manipulated but that means there is an inversibility and a linear acceleration in time in contrast to the ability of having access to the original archives to intervene on.
Following the last point, I wonder what are the implications in a wider 'reading' of the history, but also of the archives. Personal archives tell the story not only of particular individuals but have the ability to inform the wider understanding of history, as well as bring communities together because they document 'how individuals are connected to communities and (how) such archives facilitate a flow between different kinds of memories' (Giannachi, 2016, 146). Therefore, how are those archives preserved and how are the coming together with other archives that have not been manipulated? What happens to the traces of time if one generation skips the manipulation and what does that mean for a wider community?
Specifics:
The project is named 'Your Past Our Future'.
The project will begin in 2021. I, as initiator will gather 100 individuals from around the world, who want to begin this process of future archives for their descendants. After a first communication that will be informative and further explanatory about the steps and specifics of this ingoing process, the individuals are not required to meet ever again.
The transformation of the archives concerns the photographs of the previous generation. For example, I (B) will inherit the photos of my family (A) and I will manipulate them. I will pass them on to my descendant (C). They will continue the manipulation by adding my (B) archives. Their descendants (D) will continue the manipulation by adding (C) and so on. Therefore no individual is preoccupied with archives produced during their life, but their descendants do. In other words, each generation manipulates the archives of the previous ones, and all those that have come before them.
The transformation of the archives is supposed to take place preferably before a next descendant is brought to life. If an unexpected descendant occurs then the manipulation must take place as soon as possible.
The selection of the photos that are to be manipulated (as well as the already manipulated ones) happens through the descendants, as they are in charge of how they want to address this past.
Preferably, all descendants inherit archives. An individual has the ability to further designate someone not related by blood, but considered as the continuation of their family. Thus, people who don't want to or can't have children, in case they do want to continue the ongoing archive and their lineage, can.
The manipulation of the archives is open to techniques, but follows the collage practice. It can't happen digitally nor can it be disseminated in any digital form. The manipulation can happen on individual photos alone, or by bringing together more than one photo.
The combination of different archives doesn't have to follow a chronological order. It is encouraged to intervene on already manipulated archives, aside from adding the new ones.
If a descendant decides to not continue this practice, they are asked to make the archives public, until a possible future descendant requests them.
The archives can be revisited and re-manipulated if required.
The archives are held in the personal spaces (i.e. house) of the beholders. It is optional whether they want to have them on display or not. It is encouraged to really think about them as regular photos. It is their choice whether they want to keep them in boxes, displayed on furniture or in photo albums.
Along with the archives, what is also inherited is the family tree where the only intervention allowed is its expansion with the new generations.
Schützenberger informs us that the term 'family saga' is the 'the story a family tells about its own history, a mixture of memories, omissions, additions, fantasies and reality, which has a mental reality for the children raised in that family' (1998, 90). With this scenario, I wish to create an ongoing practice of sequential archives that don't determine the past as a set history and therefore the formation of identities in each present becomes more flexible. Although according to epigenetics, the transgenerational transmission is even scientifically traced, I propose this manipulations as a placebo effect on how we allow the past to shape our present. Derrida writes 'the future of the archive is not, we repeat, a question of the past. (...) It is a question of the future, the question of the future itself, the question of a response, of a promise and of a responsibility for tomorrow' (1995, 36). In this way the archives can become not only a way to retrace the past, but also to rewrite it. The archive becomes not a time capsule but a palimpsest that is faithful to its origins, carries its histories, but is open to welcome new inscriptions to be written upon it and thus transform it.
Please visit https://yourpastourfuture.hotglue.me/?Welcome for a visual mapping of different sources, artworks and other references related to this speculative scenario. You will also find a first prototype of possible archives that I could bequeath to the next generation.
Sources:
Barthes, R. (1980) Camera Lucida. Hill & Wang, New York.
Derrida, J. (1995) Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression The University of Chicago Press, London.
Giannachi, G. (2016) Archive Everything: Mapping the Everyday. The MIT Press, Cambridge.
Heath, L. (2012) The effects of adoption on identity formation a qualitative analysis. STARS-University of Central Florida. (thesis)
Lehrner, A. and Yehuda, R. (2018) Cultural trauma and epigenetic inheritance. Development and Psychopathology, 30, 1763–1777.
Paterson, K. (2014). Future Library. [online] Katiepaterson.org. Available at: http://katiepaterson.org/portfolio/future-library [Accessed 9 February 2021].
Schützenberger, A. (1998) The Ancestor Syndrome: Transgenerational psychotherapy and the hidden links in the family tree. East Sussex and New York: Routledge.