Jasper Rigole
Since 2005, Jasper Rigole has been working on the multi-media project The International Institute for the Conservation, Archiving and Distribution of Other People's Memories (IICADOM). This fictitious institute takes its departure from an archive of found films, photographs and documents which the artist gathered over the years. It is an ever-growing collection of found ego-documents, – which he sourced from flea markets, second-hand shops and garage sales – including amateur films, travelogues and family documents. All materials fulfill the same criterium, namely that they have lost the personal and emotional value they once had and, in that sense, have become worthless. By redistributing these orphaned memories through film screenings, exhibitions and online projects, Rigole seeks to re-establish the lost emotional value of these once so personal memories. His main goal is to reflect on the closely related subjects of archive and memory. By using an encyclopedic approach and a quasi-scientific precision and by referencing documentaries, 'fact-fiction' and popular scientific equivalents he further investigates concepts such as authenticity and objectivity. This results in an examination of both the human need for conclusive stories and the question whether anecdotes fictionalise history. IICADOM brings archival footage together via the techniques of cut & paste, compilation, collage and appropriation.