Impermanence

2018

 

Made in collaboration between Jasmine Smith and Kelly Bryan

 

“Impermanence” uses the visual representation of loss through the decay of flowers, challenging the “romantic ideas of nature […] life and death” (Gallaccio 2014). With the understanding that “the concept of memory is most tangible” (Amiruddin 2017), Smith and Bryan hope to portray the fragility of memories and how they are made infinite through photography. The flowers’ transformation, which was documented over nine days, was used to represent the natural impermanence of the world and all its beings. Capturing this through the man-made method of scanography, exaggerates the difference between the finite world and the infinite nature of man-made items. Six flowers were used to demonstrate their similar decay over time despite their different genetic material, recording them three times to determine their short life span and how quickly things can dematerialise. The flowers are arranged in the same format to minimise variables, allowing Bryan and Smith to produce a fair test when comparing their decay. Overall, “impermanence” aims to express the reduced sensation of loss through documentation using forms of photography to assist memory.