Based upon fascinating scientific research that demonstrates how susceptible we are to false memories, A.R. Hopwood's False Memory Archive features artworks and a unique collection of vivid personal accounts of things that never really happened. The project evocatively reflects on the way we creatively reconstruct our sense of the past, while providing insight into the often humorous, obscure and uncomfortable things people have misremembered.

 

Hopwood frequently collaborates with psychologists and neuroscientists to revisit key experiments, reflecting on the history and consequences of this provocative field of memory research. Projects include a series of works made with Professor Elizabeth Loftus (University of California, Irvine), whose ongoing research has explored how memories of fictional experiences can be created through suggestion and coercion by an authority figure. Hopwood has also collaborated with Professor Christopher French (Goldsmiths, University of London) to establish a participatory archive where people can submit their own false or non-believed memories and he has developed new art works with Professor Giuliana Mazzoni (University of Hull); Dr James Ost (University of Portsmouth); Dr Kimberly Wade (University of Warwick) and Professor Sergio Della Sala (University of Edinburgh).

 

False Memory Archive has been exhibited at the Mead Gallery Warwick, Talbot Rice Gallery Edinburgh, The Exchange Penzance, The Freud Museum London, Carroll/Fletcher London, Wellcome Collection London, Schunck Heerlen Netherlands and ADM Gallery Singapore. The objects, texts and collaborations gathered for the exhibition collectively explore where the truth lies in a ‘false’ recollection, while examining the role artists can play in representing scientific information to the public.