Written on Wax
Janet Biggs, 2016
2-channel HD video installation with sound
Running time 5:35
Dual-channel video Written in Wax focuses on how memories are formed. The work documents Biggs' experience with a research study that utilized electric shocks to create new, negative memories that were later altered or erased. Modifying the process for her video, the artist received a jolt of electricity each time she was shown footage representing one of her earliest recollections of personal autonomy—an image of horse's hooves. The procedure gradually transformed this positive association to a negative one. Her loss of, and subsequent attempt to recover this, presents the viewer with an intimate look at the relationship between memory and identity.
