Art works are continuous reconstructed memories

I engaged in collage making again after some time, using my own past drawings, because of the urgency I felt to complete something in one sitting today and I remembered something I read a while ago about how our procedural memory (one form of implicit memory) is utilized while engaging in collage processes, in particular while cutting and pasting because these activities are automatic and non-declarative. However, ‘titling the collage requires conscious efforts’ (Robin Vance and Kara Wahlin, 2008). And of course, the themes and content in the artwork is the dynamic interaction between both implicit and explicit memory.

Robin Vance and Kara Wahlin’s chapter in Art Therapy and Clinical Neuroscience, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, (2008-10-15), Kindle Edition

First there was the taking, then there was the breaking