The Art of Memory: An Interview with Becky Moon
Becky Moon (Washington University in St. Louis) & Marta Caravà (Purdue University)
Philosophy and art are allies. Philosophers talk a lot about art: not only in aesthetics, but also in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language.
But what is it like to do philosophy through art? And to do art through philosophy? Connecting these activities offers a practical way to communicate philosophy to non-philosophers. The intersection also provides new means and methods for teaching philosophy in ways that may engage students more inclusively.
Linking art and philosophy can also be helpful theoretically, particularly in cases where new topics are being explored. In the philosophy of memory, for example, there is not yet agreement on what the subject of study is or should be - and there is even less agreement on how to study it. By using art, we may more fully and creatively explore the available space.
In this interview, Becky Moon shares her experience as an artist and philosopher, discussing what it is like to do research on memory through art, how studying philosophy of memory has shaped her approach to research-based art, what it was like to create art for The Memory Palace, and more.
Marta Caravà: How did you come up with the idea of doing philosophy with art?
Becky Moon: The long answer is: as a high school student activist in South Korea writing a human rights petition signed by 60,000 people, I began to obsessively think about why things are the way they are and what forces people to harm others, or reversely do good for others. Then I had a conversation with my philosopher father and realized something that forever changed the way I think. It is that hard powers like laws are not the only way to change the world. Rather, soft powers like art, philosophy, and literature are the true forces that shape the ways we see and act.
Looking at the history of human thought through philosophical texts dating back from ancient Greece to now helped me gain a better understanding of myself and the world. Some questions like ‘What temperature does water boil?’ can be answered through science. But questions like ‘Who am I?’, ‘Who are you?’, ‘Why am I here?’, ‘What is a being?’, ‘Does God exist?’ need a different approach. And philosophy can be a good way-finder toward the answer. Philosophers are similar to little children as they never stop asking ‘why?’.
Philosophy as a discipline began when humans gained the ability to think deeply beyond what was happening immediately. Despite the rich history and the benefits of philosophy, today this area of studies is often perceived as monotonous. When people hear the word ‘philosopher’, they still picture an old white man with a long beard slumped on an armchair. Philosophy book covers are the dullest of all books in the library stacks. But philosophy is so much more than that.
So, upon entering college, I started to make paintings directly inspired by philosophical texts. Art is a non-verbal language and it is particularly tied to perception and sensation. Philosophy begins from an original perception or sensation that the philosopher later puts into words. Turning philosophy into art reverts it to its original nonverbal form. The essence of the text – be it a book, a page, or a paragraph – condensed into a singular image.
The short answer is: I didn’t like how philosophy book covers are – just color blobs and shapes – because philosophy is so much hotter than that!
Marta Caravà: What about your painting for The Memory Palace? How did you come up with the idea?
Becky Moon: Last year I curated a show titled Nature of Memory at my home institution, Washington University in St. Louis. I assembled a team of 21 artists who made multimedia artworks inspired by five papers in the philosophy of memory, written by WashU professors (Rebecca Copenhaver, Carl Craver, and Jake Quilty-Dunn) and graduate students (Judith Carlisle and Tomy Ames). For the show, I painted this 18x24 painting titled Fantastic Solipsistic inspired by Rebecca Copenhaver’s Direct Realism about Remembering Dreams.
Curating the show got me interested in the philosophy of memory, and I was thrilled when Sarah and Marta asked me to do a painting for The Memory Palace. Before starting the painting, I researched on popular symbols in the philosophy of memory, created a sketch where the symbols form the elements of a palace, and dug in further with thick globs of oil paint to give a fun, joyful texture.
Marta Caravà: Can you tell us more about the elements in the painting for The Memory Palace?
Becky Moon: Sarah and Marta helped me find the symbols and also kindly sent various papers they wrote about the construction of memory, memory and affordances, forgetting, and more. The symbols I ended up picking were: Plato’s bird and birdcage, memory aid (string on a singer), seahorse, strange blocks piled altogether inspired by Sarah’s writings on memory structure, and finally pen on a desk from Marta’s example in Are forgotten memories literal experiences of absences?. I’ve also added little easter eggs like Carl Craver and Lindley Darden’s book In Search of Mechanisms on the desk and a brain between the patch of grass in front of the palace.
Marta Caravà: What about the logo? How does it connect, thematically, to the painting?
Becky Moon: The memory symbols in the painting also appear in the logo. I also wanted to emphasize the forgetting aspect of memory in the logo, as Marta’s talk on forgetting and memory absences at the SLaPSA was very inspiring. So, I took a twist from the original sketch and created a contrast in the left and right of the logo where the left is about the vibrancy of memory while the right is about the muddiness of forgetting.
Marta Caravà: You have done a lot of work at the crossroads of art and philosophy. How does your work on memory differ from other philosophical topics that you have explored through art?
Becky Moon: The Memory Palace’s painting was more research-based than intuitive in terms of the approach I took. The range of philosophical texts I engage with is broad: usually, I extract an image from the text, which could be a phrase, a sentence, or a whole section. This time I have also looked at various symbolisms as well as approaches various philosophers take on memory. Attending talks both by Marta at a meeting of the SLaPSA and Sarah at the WIPS at WashU Philosophy also helped me greatly to understand the topic better. Oh, I also tell philosophers of memory that what they are doing is especially incredible because everything about memory happens inside the mind, with no tangible things to hold onto in the external world! How crazy is that!!!
Marta Caravà: Do you think that these differences are due only to the topic of your research-based art or also to something else?
Becky Moon: I think I also chose a more fun visual language rather than an esoteric or serious one because I find The Memory Palace project remarkably exciting. I’ve been a big fan of philosophy blogs like Aesthetics for Birds, and it’s awesome that there is now a place – a palace! – for philosophers to discuss memory. So, I wanted the main image – the painting – to be as welcoming and friendly as possible while also pulling the audience closer as they wonder ‘What is going on?’.
Marta Caravà: There is so much philosophy on art. But what about doing philosophy with art? What has been your experience so far and what are your general thoughts about this?
Becky Moon: If we lined up all disciplines from most tangible to intangible, art and philosophy would be at opposite ends. However, we can tie the ends together by making art that visualizes philosophy and vice versa. All artistic endeavors start from a point of inspiration, sometimes coming from the inside, like a whisper from a personal memory, or coming from outside, like a line of text representing a phenomenon that is waiting to be reverted to its original nonverbal form.
Marta Caravà: Has reading philosophy changed the way you do art? And has doing art changed the way in which you read and do philosophy?
Becky Moon:
The biggest takeaway from studying philosophy for me is learning how to pause. Philosophers pause and think about ‘why?’ before they make a conclusion. In a fast-paced modern world bombarded with information and decisions, it is crucial to take things slowly and dig into the reason why we are inclined to act in a certain way. Therefore, in terms of artmaking, I have a better sense of calibrated intuition. Yes, that is an oxymoron but now I think I can think ahead with my brushstrokes, just like how skillful chess players can see ahead of the game.
Marta Caravà: Has your work for The Memory Palace helped you gain further understanding of memory and the mind?
Becky Moon: Yes, absolutely! Philosophy of memory was a new area for me and it was very interesting to see how different philosophers had different takes on the structure, reliability, and definition of memory.
Marta Caravà: For your dissertation project, you have worked on an illustrated book on Iris Murdoch’s philosophy. Are you planning to work on similar projects, including projects on memory?
Becky Moon: I would absolutely love to! An illustrated guide to the philosophy of memory sounds badass!
Marta Caravà: What is the general value of doing philosophy through art? Do you think there is something specific on doing philosophy of memory through art in comparison to, say, doing philosophy of perception or philosophy of language through art?
Becky Moon: I think an especially fantastic aspect of making art about philosophical texts is the conversations I get to have with philosophers. I can get an even more vivid image of the phenomenon I am trying to represent by asking the philosopher about their inspiration and intention in depth. Philosophers also have told me that they can understand their writings more vividly after seeing my art. And since memory is invisible, giving it a tangible form through painting granted me more freedom in the way I portray its elements.
Marta Caravà: Last question, your paintings are very vivid and memorable. When you work on your projects, do you explicitly follow particular techniques to achieve these results? Do you think that we have some sort of control on how memorable our projects – artistic or philosophical – will be?
Becky Moon: I’m so glad to hear that – thank you! I try hard to make every artwork memorable in a different way. I want the painting for The Memory Palace to stay in memory for a long time in the way a very pleasant lemonade does! (I got the lemon analogy/yellow color palette from Rebecca Copenhaver’s PowerPoint slides with many lemons. Very memorable! I even dreamt about it once.) The last question is so interesting. Maybe if we put our heart and soul into something it will be memorable regardless of what the outcome is because we can perceive the passion and love that goes into something just like how we can perceive other values and virtues like beauty, truth, and more.
Marta Caravà: Thank you so much for your time and for your work, Becky!
Becky Moon: Thanks to you and Sarah for the invitation!
