top of page

"I Am You" is a project that explores the forgotten memories we’ve digitised.

 

Over the past decade, how many photos and videos have you taken? And how many have you looked at more than once, truly recalling the moment you captured them? As cloud synchronisation services from Google and Apple have made it easier to chronicle our lives, the act of remembering has increasingly shifted to digital devices.

 

This year, as I reviewed a decade's worth of photos and videos, I was unsettled by how many I couldn’t place—images I didn’t remember, taken in places I no longer recognized. These moments felt like they belonged to someone else, as if another version of me had lived them in an alternate timeline. This raises the question: when memories are stored outside of ourselves, do they still shape who we are, or do they become distant, impersonal records?

 

During my 2024 residency at Pont du Gard in France, I created "Random Brain Access" as an experimental starting point to explore these lost memories. The installation features blurred visions to represent fragments of unconscious memories, much like travelling through dreams. Alongside the visuals, I introduced a hybrid creature—one that collects and guards these lost memories, combining prosthetic sensory organs with machine and human parts.

 

This initial work started conversations with viewers, encouraging them to share their experiences of memory and digital record. Building on this, I will expand the project by collecting archived but forgotten memories from a broader audience. The donated memories will be archived, analysed, and fed into an AI system that will use this data to generate new digital creatures. These creatures will embody the collective memories, evolving and adapting as more memories are added. Each new contribution will influence the avatar’s form, behaviour, and identity, turning it into a dynamic, ever-evolving digital being.




 

"I Am You" is in development, having passed initial experiments and preparing for expansion during the residency.

 

By January’s end, I will focus on the conception of an avatar that lives within forgotten memories, starting as an egg-like form reminiscent of 90s Tamagotchi. I will also design the platform for memory donations, including a website, email, and visuals to invite participation.

 

During the festival, I plan to share this idea with other artists and participants, encouraging them to contribute their forgotten digital memories.

 

In May, during the remote residency, I will archive the donated memories, analyze patterns, and collaborate with a developer to train the AI. This will guide the avatar’s progression to the form-building stage, where it will take on its first characteristics based on the memories.

 

In June, during the on-site residency in Berlin, the avatar will enter the identity exploration stage. I plan to organize workshops and discussions where participants can shape the avatar’s evolution by reflecting on memory and identity. Based on this exchange, I will animate the avatar and give it a voice, projecting its presence within the lost memories. This process will be documented as a "growth drama."

 

In July, I will edit the documentary and finalize the avatar’s story.

 

Afterward, the avatar will evolve autonomously through AI learning and memory integration, eventually being represented in physical sculptures.

© 2022. Mona Young-eun Kim All rights reserved.
bottom of page