Julian Rowe

The focus of much of my work is on archaeological and ethnographic collections, of the kind that were common in museums fifty years ago but are now found more rarely. The twist is that although the battered and decaying objects in these “collections” look as though they are the booty of some long forgotten expedition, they are in fact made by the artist.

On one level a collection is a metaphor for memory. Museums are a form of collective memory, but a memory that needs the interpretation of the curator for it to make any sense. My cabinets and cases seem to have lost that narrative. If there are labels, they are blank; the significance and purpose of the objects is obscure, as is their age and geographical origin; we are left wondering who collected them and why. This is the tragedy of memory – it is at the heart of what makes us human, but suffers a continuous depletion.

On another level, these works are not real collections at all but inventions. Museum collections depend for their integrity upon the notion of authenticity; I made these myself, so is my collection a fiction? In a sense, my objects have their own authenticity. After all they are not imitations of other things, but exist in their own right. Even so, their outward appearance as collected relics verges on the misleading. Perhaps memories are like that too – a raw material that is shaped to fit into a personal narrative.

Location: Lamberhurst
Website: www.julianrowe.co.uk
Contact: julian@julianrowe.co.uk

Tags: assemblage, installation, lamberhurst, Video