Introduction:
What does it mean when something is made to be destroyed? Jan Rosseel’s work Flash Memory explores ideas associated with memory, material destruction and what occurs when something exists in a state of continual disappearance. The photographic installation is made up of lightproof oak boxes that house re-photographed images of historical events. The images in the boxes were printed onto photographic paper in a darkroom but were not submerged in a fixing emulsion. Therefore, every time someone opens a box to view them, they are damaged. They slowly deteriorate through being exhibited. Flash memory evokes the concept of Auto-Destructive Art which was developed by the political activist and artist Gustav Metzger (1926-2017). Like Metzger, Rosseel brings destruction directly into the creation process of a work.

FLASH MEMORY