The Power of Artwork Part 2: We are our Memories

Photo by Luiz Medeiros

For the last 13 years I’ve spent most of my time and effort designing products to support people living with dementia, and one of the first things I learnt was how changes in visual perception are critically influential.

My initial dementia-design challenge was creating internal signs that were highly visible and easier to interpret for people who live with dementia. Essentially I created two types: signs for toilets and bathrooms, and signs that enable people to identify their own room. My designs have been used all around the world and there are literally millions of examples which observe this design – the difference tends to be the quality of materials and execution but they all follow the same visual construct.

Working with the signage took me all over the place and I met some brilliant people, literally. One particularly brilliant University professor in Scotland was responsible for my reminiscence epiphany! The first time we met we talked for maybe three hours and the recurrent theme was, you guessed it: reminiscence.

The Oxford Dictionary describes the verb to Reminisce as follows: reminisce (about something/somebody) to think, talk or write about a happy time in your past. 

During the drive back to Leeds, a huge penny clanged into the largely empty vessel between my ears and suddenly I had an overwhelming sense of the significance of reminiscence for all of us, not just in the context of a person living with dementia. I didn’t just feel like I understood it, I could feel the emotion of it. I think the importance of memories is neatly encapsulated in the phrase: ‘we are our memories’.

Alongside our own personage - that vehicle we need to get around in every day - our memories might be the only thing we truly own. They’re personal, they’re private, they’re ours and they’re unique to every one of us.

The significance of memories is never greater when cognition becomes impaired and the only reliable memories are older ones. The ability to recall these memories becomes what defines our personality. Imagine having no memories at all. You would be a blank page with nothing to show you had ever existed. This is what is so sad about how some people experience dementia when they describe their loved one as not ‘being there’ any more, or ‘just a shell’ when they no longer remember who they are.

So memory recall is priceless and with the right stimulation valuable memories can be reliably brought to the surface along with all the emotions associated with them, and herein lies the logic behind some exceptional opportunities. So how can it be that we do so little to promote reminiscence and why are we surprised when someone comes to life when they hear a familiar song or see a familiar picture?

The only downside to Reminiscence is that it's so bloody difficult to spell!

Next post: Memory, Music and Emotion