Catalogue > At random
Mary-audrey Ramirez
Forced Amnesia
Multimedia installation | hdv | color | 0:0 | Luxembourg | 2024
The game follows ideas such as design by subtraction. A world devoid of time and space where the great dichotomies of human thought no longer cast a shadow. A post-anthropocentric world with a non-hierarchical structure. Here we cannot orient ourselves, which defies our understanding in a refreshing way and makes us forget - at least for a few moments - who we are; where we come from; and that we believe we are of particular importance. Forced Amnesia follows a simple instruction pattern: explore and you will find. As it is devoid of language all we have to do is follow our instinct. What we learned in games that we played before. The idea for Forced Amnesia started 2023 as an art exhibition, which led to the development of a video game. Forced Amnesia is a game with focus on quiet moments, inspired by the concept of design by subtraction, philosophy introduced by Fumito Ueda. The game gives the player lots of space to navigate through. Forced Amnesia’s aesthetics moves through a stage of comforting uncertainty, the player does not know if they are above or under water, swinging or flying. This state, fused with a calm soothing musical score creates a space for relaxation and calm. Places that nowadays are getting increasingly harder to find. Forced Amnesia aims at an older generation of gamers. Gen X and Gen Y will be the first generation to grow old playing video games. As we slowly age, our lifestyle and perception changes, Forced Amnesia is there to accompany us.
Mary-Audrey Ramirez studied under Thomas Zipp at the University of the Arts in Berlin Germany from 2010 to 2016. In 2019 she was the recipient of the prestigious Edward Steichen Award in Luxembourg for her textile-based sculptural and pictorial works. Early 2025 Ramirez’s Qrst percent for art work will be Qnalized in Berlin Spandau. Her works have been shown in both solo and group exhibitions at institutions such as Casino Luxembourg, forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg; Kunsthalle Gießen, Gießen; Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund; TRAUMA BAR UND KINO, Berlin; Kai 10 Arthena Foundation, D sseldorf; Haus Mödrath, Kerpen; Margot Samel Gallery, New York City; Polansky Gallery, Prague and MARTINETZ, Cologne. She was also part of Esch2022+ARS ELECTRONICA, Luxembourg/Linz. “Ramirez creates a dense image of a world with her figurative representations in pictures, objects and games, It is a world devoid of time and space where the great dichotomies of human thought no longer play a role. A post-anthropocentric world that is not organised hierarchically. A world in which we cannot orientate ourselves, which defies our understanding in a refreshing way and makes us forget, at least for a few moments, who we are, where we come from and that we believe we are of particular importance” - (Annekathrin Kohout)