William Morris: re:memory

German historian and philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey believed historicity identifies human beings as unique and concrete historical beings. It places each of us within the context of a time and space. Film acts as both a document and an artifact, a placeholder for memory. It recalls and isolates facets of the human experience.

“re: memory” references youthful endeavor as depicted by a generations-old visual medium. Given time, these images resound with great depth. This work is a collage of found film imagery from the 20th century, more specifically, the 1930s, 1940s, 1970s, and 1980s. The superimposition of several film sources appearing at once creates an ever-shifting, impossible two-dimensional space.

The story is in the editing, but don’t expect a linear narrative. An original score by percussionist Henry Claude adds post-tonal serialism.

William Morris lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri. He received a M.F.A. in Video Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a B.F.A. from Sam Fox School of Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.