Mnemonic
Mabel Wilson (Neptune, USA, 1963)
lives and works in New York, New York, USA
Meejin Yoon (Seoul, Corea, 1972)
lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts and Ithaca, New York, USA
Eric Höweler (Cali, Colombia, 1972)
lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Josh Begley (San Francisco, California, 1984)
lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Gene Han (Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1997)
lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, USA
unknown, unknown constructs an architectural space of light and sound to remember the unnamed members of the enslaved community at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, U.S. unknown, unknown draws from archival research informing the design of UVA’s Memorial to Enslaved Laborers that opened in 2020. In an immersive installation, unknown, unknown remembers the approximately 4000 unknown and known community members. In contrast to the western monument form that typically renders figures, names, and history in stone or bronze, unknown, unknown creates a commemorative space through a cloud of sound and light. Its panels of suspended fabric recalls the domestic labour of unnamed Black women and the spaces where they lived at UVA. Sounds and voices abstracted from the ledgers and spreadsheets, which document the known and unknown names, provide a soundtrack throughout the space. unknown, unknown builds an ephemeral sonic and visual memorial for this community.
Technical collaborators
Kirt Von Daacke, Erik Duda, Elliot Taylor, Mitchell Powers
Team
Justin Tan, Jessica Black, Ye Sul E. Cho
With special thanks to
All of our collaborators on the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (2016 – 2020) at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
