Retention Loss: New Mexico, 1995

Collection Of Images Depicting Lost Memories, 2014
72 4x6 digital C-print found photographs
29"x78"

I’ve always been very interested in the Southwest. As a teenager I went camping frequently, and it has been a goal of mine to someday see the Grand Canyon and hike in the deserts. But recently I discovered that I have already done those things. At the time the information didn’t surprise me because I was already aware that as a young child I went on many trips, all of which I do not remember. But as I thought about it, I was fascinated that I could have such an awesome experience yet have absolutely no recollection of it ever happening.

 With further investigation I revealed that we had gone on a road trip through the Southwest back in 1995, when I was only three years old. Using found images, interviews and Internet resources I try to relive that experience through my own means. I virtually explore the locations we visited on the trip via the computer while also attempting to venture deeper into the physical landscape through three-dimensional sculpture. On this journey to find a lost memory I am commenting on how our society views images in relation to remembering situations and events. By responding to images, online or found, I get a false representation of what it was actually like to be there in 1995. The work that is produced is a result of creating a memory while trying to recollect a lost one, which in turn poses a question of authenticity.

Mountain Range in Las Cruces, New Mexico
32’28’41.7”N, 106’48’04.9”W #1, 2014
Quarter inch steel rod, projection of Google Maps screen cap
3'x6'

Road Trip from Dallas to Las Vegas, 1995
As Seen Through Google Maps, 2014
Videos from three channel video installation

Grand Canyon Virtual Helicopter Tour: Green Route #2 (Clip), 2014
Original full length video installation is 30 minutes and 30 seconds long. 
The virtual flightpath is mapped out using Google Earth and a flight map from
the Papillon Imperial Air Tour, the same helicopter tour I went on in 1995.
For more information on this piece visit my blog post where I describe the process in detail: Click Here

White Sands New Mexico, 1995 (Rad Dad)
Photograph by Joyce Pugliese, re-envisioned by Alec Pugliese, 2014
Archival inkjet print from original 4x6, bags of sand

 Interviews collected from each close family member that was on the trip in 1995.
Audio is played throughout the installation space, or through headphones while the viewer observes work.
Voices include Myself (Alec Pugliese), Michele Pugliese (Mother), Anthony Pugliese (Father), 
Joyce Pugliese (Grandmother)