Ars Memoria

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'Thus it happens
in an instant.

Hold the phone
the poet says
I remember.

Where once a hall
now only a frame
and yet

as the servant had served
so would the poet
preserve
the position of each guest
pictured clearly
through brick dust
and rubble.'

Emotions and personalities are crucial elements that are integral to human memory. When people remember events it is not in a static, chronological sequence, but rather it is influenced by their emotional experiences during and after events. Memories can also be manipulated to suit the individual’s motives. This idea of the fabrication of memory is extensively explored in Aden Rolfe’s “Ars Memoria”, a poem which is true to the historical version of events but with a slight contemporary twist.

The story goes that Simonides, a Greek poet was invited to his Patron’s (Skopas) house to perform a poem in his honour at a banquet; however, as the night progresses an accident happens and Simonides was the only survivor. In order to remove suspicion from himself, Simonides creates the Art of Memory to cover up the accident. His recollection of events is based solely on factual and tangible evidence rather than how the event impacted him emotionally - using a mnemonic strategy, the method of Loci (The assumption that you remember the places you are familiar with best by linking things within that space to help aid your memory). His testimony does not present reasons as to why things happened, only that they did and because there is no motive or human purpose, there are holes in his story. In this context, Rolfe portrays Simonides as the modern day con man.

This comic is based off an excerpt of the poem (above) and is a dehumanised visualisation of the precise moment “The Art of Memory” came into existence. Animals are selectively chosen to capture the nature of specific characters, with Simonides as a scheming octopus, showing the process of manipulation through the visual transition from his subconscious to reality.