AUDIO
UNFOLDING MEMORIES
Audio 9/15
9.
UNFOLDING MEMORIES – Fiona Tan
0:00
AUDIO
Fiona Tan
A large collection of photographs unfolds before us. People of different ages. Family celebrations. Outings. Group photos. Moments from everyday life.
The work is called Vox Populi: Tokyo, and it was created in 2007. For this piece, the Dutch artist Fiona Tan looked through the family photo albums of people living in Tokyo and selected individual pictures for this installation. Her goal was to create a portrait of the city—not through well-known places or tourist attractions, but through its residents’ personal photographs.
If we look more closely, we notice repetitions. Certain poses appear again and again. People celebrate, travel, laugh, or gather for group pictures. A lot of what we see seems surprisingly familiar.
Many family photo albums contain similar images. Birthdays. Vacations. Snapshots with friends. The work centers around this key observation. People often photograph similar moments in their lives, regardless of cultural and geographical differences.
At the same time, each image remains unique. Each photograph depicts different people, different relationships, and different stories.
There is no set order here, and no clear starting point. Instead, the work functions like an oversized photo album. Our gaze wanders from one picture to the next, and we create our own connections.
In this way, a portrait gradually emerges, though not of a single person—arising instead is a multifaceted picture of everyday life. A collection of many small memories that only reveal their full impact when taken together as the Vox Populi, the voice of the people.
The work is called Vox Populi: Tokyo, and it was created in 2007. For this piece, the Dutch artist Fiona Tan looked through the family photo albums of people living in Tokyo and selected individual pictures for this installation. Her goal was to create a portrait of the city—not through well-known places or tourist attractions, but through its residents’ personal photographs.
If we look more closely, we notice repetitions. Certain poses appear again and again. People celebrate, travel, laugh, or gather for group pictures. A lot of what we see seems surprisingly familiar.
Many family photo albums contain similar images. Birthdays. Vacations. Snapshots with friends. The work centers around this key observation. People often photograph similar moments in their lives, regardless of cultural and geographical differences.
At the same time, each image remains unique. Each photograph depicts different people, different relationships, and different stories.
There is no set order here, and no clear starting point. Instead, the work functions like an oversized photo album. Our gaze wanders from one picture to the next, and we create our own connections.
In this way, a portrait gradually emerges, though not of a single person—arising instead is a multifaceted picture of everyday life. A collection of many small memories that only reveal their full impact when taken together as the Vox Populi, the voice of the people.