Annotated Bibliography
Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969.

This novel reveals the relationship between building structures, particularly in reference to houses, and the way in which we remember things. Going through each part of a house including the attic and basement, he refers to many literary works which demonstrate a character being influenced by his home surroundings and the sort of events that took place within those settings. While discussing the different aspects of a house and connecting them with more primitive settings such as huts, he makes readers consider how their dreams, particularly daydreams are shaped by these various places. He also discusses the way children view the homes in which they have lived. He notes that the house people are born in, and/or spend the most time in, carries the most influence over a person. Furthermore, remembrances of a childhood home are seen through a child's eye; one does not see the entire house, but rather sees fragments of it. Another important idea that comes up in his writing is the notion of imagining versus experiencing. He says that it is much better to spend the most time imagining a space rather than having the entire image placed before you where there is no room for speculation. Throughout the entire novel, he really makes one think about the influence our homes have on our thoughts in general.
 
Bernadac, Marie-Laure. Louise Bourgeois. New York: Flammarion, 1996.

This book describes the life of the 20th century American Sculptor Louise Bourgeois with relative detail. Included within this description is a discussion of her life as an artist. It mainly discusses her sculptures that contain abstracted or segmented human parts, i.e. hands. Through these works she begins to deal with the relationships she has had throughout her life (as signified by the human parts). The author also discusses some of Bourgeois' other works in the context of recalled experiences. In other words, her works reflect her recollections of past relationships within the setting of their original occurrence. For example, she uses her childhood home as the foundation for many of her works.
 
Calvino, Italo. Six Memos for the Next Millennium. New York: Harper Perennial, 1985.

Calvino's memos mainly describe his feelings concerning the role of books and literature. He does not want their role to be discounted because they are able to do many things that other forms of communication cannot. I would argue, after reading his memos that many of the issues he describes can be found abstractly through art. For example, Calvino discusses the idea of quickness. In his discussion he talks about a variety of factors including linking of unusual events by a common object or phrase, the importance of using and creating time, and greater effectiveness due to conciseness. Of these ideas, the part about connecting thoughts seems of greatest importance to me. Just as he might connect a series of seemingly unrelated thoughts by some element, I too can connect a series of seemingly unrelated images into one memory - as the mind often does.
Perhaps of the greatest importance to me is his memo entitled Exactitude. He breaks the section into three parts: 1) precise and thought-out plans for intended work, 2) the calling up of good images that stick in one's mind (vivid), and 3) perfect words (exact and few) for expressing even the smallest aspect of a thought of any kind. Though he is again writing these ideas in terms of literature, I can still apply them to art. In creating art it is important to summon the right images and only use the essential elements that produce a memorable image. Understanding how these elements work together is important.
 
Faerna, Jose Maria, ed. Trans. Diane Cobos. De Chirico. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1995.

This book gives a brief description of the life and works of the 20th century Italian Painter Giorgio de Chirico. His works draw on ideas of Surrealism, but include elements of the supernatural and therefore make his art Metaphysical. Although many of his paintings include morphing bodies or everyday items (gloves, artichokes), his deserted cityscapes are the most interesting to me. His use of exaggerated perspective, sharply contrasting lights and darks, and ambiguous architectural spaces sets up mysterious settings where anything could happen. Their openness and lack of actual people promotes a strange silence that further enhances the intrigue of these paintings.
 
Fineberg, Jonathan. Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1995.

This textbook gives summary information about the history of Modern (and Contemporary) Art. Through discussions of art movements, it focuses on various artists who have significantly contributed to the art world. These artists are then discussed in contrast to each other, the style their art applies to, and the time period they live(d) in. It was useful for getting general information about contemporary artists.
 
Gimferrer, Pere. Giorgio de Chirico. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, 1988.

This book gives a brief history of de Chirico's life and discusses his artistic style. It describes his morphed figures and deserted cityscapes. In addition, it points out elements of his works that were inspired by his past - for example, the reoccurrence of trains as a result of his father being an engineer. His well-known cityscapes were also linked to places he used to frequent in his homeland, Italy. Once again, I am drawn to the descriptions of his open architectural spaces that are filled with exaggerated perspective, sharply contrasting lights and darks, lack of people, strange shadows, and anticipated action.
 
Kotik, Charlotta, Terrie Sultan, Christian Leigh. Louise Bourgeois: The Locus of Memory. New York: The Brooklyn Museum, 1994.

This catalogue contains a description of Louise Bourgeois' life and works. It also contains several essays written by the artist herself and others that describe some of her Cells (her later installation pieces). These installations are based on her childhood and familial relationships. The spaces she creates are designed to reveal her feelings of anxiety and fear, as well as enable her to work through unresolved issues of the past. Rather than recreating the settings in which past events occurred, she abstracts forms and uses symbolic objects and spaces to reveal her feelings.
 
Lively, Penelope. Moon Tiger. New York: Grove Press, 1987.

Lively's novel focuses on a woman in a hospital bed. Though unable to move from the hospital, the main character Claudia begins a history of the world. However, this history comes mainly in the form of the history of her life. Centering mostly on a love affair with a man named Tom, she recalls many events from her past. I liken this novel to Toni Morrison's Beloved, in that the events of Claudia's life fade in and out as well as change views a bit. While discussing one occasion, she manages to come at the experience from many different angles. Overall, the novel makes one think about the way in which we remember events of our past. While there may have been the actual event, our minds often change the course of that event. Small details can be changed and some added. However, despite any discrepancies within the memories, the memories belong to the person and form the person. I found her varying remembrances to be very interesting as a way to get in better contact with the way in which I remember events from my own life.
 
Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. New York: Harper Perennial, 1985.

In this series of writings, Sacks explores the workings of the mind. Observing numerous people with all sorts of peculiarities, he is able to present readers with very interesting workings of the mind. In many cases people are stuck in one part of their past. Due to some sort of brain damage, these individuals are not able to deal with their current surroundings. Other people lacked short-term memory and therefore fabricated current events out of pieces of their pasts - a part of their lives they remembered well. While some in that case are able to find their identity in their pasts, some are forced to continually remake themselves and therefore almost lose their identity entirely.
Of particular interest is the section of his book entitled Transports. This section deals with how one remembers. In the first case, a woman remembers a phrase of music through seizures that enables her to remember her past. Continuing to deal with seizures and other stimuli that cause sudden remembrances of the past, he turns to the drug L-Dopa. This drug 'wakes up' memories that have been dormant in one's brain for a variety of reasons. In each of the cases he presents, people are remembering aspects of their lives with great detail. Although the memories in these cases are inspired by artificial or unpleasant means (seizures), the nature of their remembering and their memories is interesting to read about.
 
Stachelhaus, Heiner. Trans. David Britt. Joseph Beuys. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1991.

In this book, Stachelhaus describes the life of the 20th century German Expressionist Sculptor Joseph Beuys. Going into great detail about the events of Beuys' life, the author goes so far as to point out many discrepancies in other accounts of the artist's life. He talks about Beuys as shaman, teacher, and creator of art. In describing Beuys' actual works he is quick to note the references to past events. Furthermore, he notes the nearly fatal plane crash as having the greatest impact on Beuys' art. Stemming from the crash is the systematic use of fat and felt. Through the use of these materials, Beuys is able to evoke the experience of the past, and present art that inspires viewers to consider their physicality and presence.
 
Steinmetz, Sol, ed. Random House Webster's College Dictionary. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997.

This dictionary was used to get a clear definition of memory - a definition that I could compare with my own notions.
 
Sylvester, David. "On Beuys." Art in America April 1999: 115-117.

This article discusses public perceptions and interactions with Beuys' works as well as the author's own relationship with the artist. Sylvester notes that Beuys' works are often based on past experiences. Despite the fact that viewers are sometimes unaware of this connection, his works are able to exude a strong presence. The majority of the article continues the discussion within the context of Beuys' exhibition at the Dia Center for the Arts. The exhibit contains works, called Fonds, that use felt and metal to provoke thoughts of existence. They also encourage viewers to consider the space they occupy. Furthermore, these works have a silence that resembles that of de Chirico's paintings. Thus, through the use and presentation of personally significant materials, Beuys tries to inspire deep thoughts among his viewers.
 
Tversky, Barbara. "Memory for Pictures, Maps, Environments, and Graphs." Intersections In Basic and Applied Memory Research. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1997.

This chapter of a larger textbook discusses the organization of memory. It begins by noting the mind's tendency to remember objects in relation to other objects. Although there is no real order of importance when it comes to objects, we find some objects to be more important than others. This tendency is related to the fact that we see everything according to its relevance in our lives. Tversky also describes our inclination to remember objects and events according to a frame - namely the frame created by floor, walls, and ceiling. Rather than recalling a single object, people may first think of where the object is and then what it looks like. Also, when recalling an event, it is common for one to recreate the entire space in their minds as a way of remembering the sequence of events. Generally, Tversky points out that our minds use places and spaces as sources of reference for recollection.

 


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