FLASH MEMORY Reminiscence. Remnants of Self

FLASH MEMORY Reminiscence. Remnants of Self
Ethan Vincent, 2026
Retinal afterimage installation broncolor flash system, black photoboard stencil, overlay photo acetate, timber frame, amaran ambient lighting FLASH MEMORY stages a perceptual event in which an image is written directly onto the viewer's retina. A burst of intense light passes through a layered stencil and a photo-acetate transparency. The image – a core memory from the artist’s childhood in 1982 – bleaches the photopigments of the eye and produces a retinal afterimage visible only to its recipient: private, embodied, and temporary. The work draws on Bergson's philosophy of duration, Damasio's theory of constructed perception, and the perceptual science of photopigment bleaching and Emmert's Law. The image appears suddenly, lingers, and dissolves; mirroring the fragile mechanics of memory itself.
*Viewers are advised that this installation involves bright flash photography every 1.5 seconds at a 20-cycle interval.