Corinne Vionnet: Collective Memories

Switzerland-based Corinne Vionnet is our guide to the world's most famous landmarks, monuments millions have visited before. Her art is created not by acrylic, oil, or watercolor, each piece is made by combining hundreds of tourist photos into one. After conducting an online keyword search and sifting through photo sharing sites, this Swiss/French artist carefully layers 200 to 300 photos on top of one another until she gets her desired result.

Look closely and you'll see dim shadows, vague silhouettes that aimlessly wander around. More than anything, these haunting figures make us think about our own fading memories and the inevitable passage of time. "Why do we always take the same picture, if not to interact with what already exists?," Vionnet asks. "The photograph proves our presence. And to be true, the picture will be perfectly consistent with the pictures in our collective memory."

 "This work is intrinsically linked to the people who took these pictures," Vionnet says. "The collaboration is obvious, but it is without their knowledge. These pictures are on the Internet, to be seen by any eventual visitors. I am just one of those visitors. It is the sheer quantity of these almost identical pictures that gave me the idea of superimposing them. I do not think I would have had the idea if I had made all these pictures of the same places myself. Anyway, the work would loose its meaning."

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