The Memory Matrix – Jeepney is a temporary monument in the continuous process of building and dismantling. It is part of the ongoing Memory Matrix project series (see project description of the first iteration, Memory Matrix – Palmyra, 2016). The second iteration took place in Manila, within the London Biennale – Manila Pollination in Manila, Philippines. The Jeepney version was made of over 10,000 pixels. The larger matrix of pixels revealed an image of the jeepney, a relic vehicle of WWII that the US army left behind and that local inhabitants transformed into a limousine-like, colorful truck. Over time, these vehicles became a locally specific means of public transportation, their origin forgotten by the present generation (the majority of Manila’s population is below the age of 25). The replacement of the jeepney by the expanding new Manila bus system threatens to render it extinct. Anticipating a future without jeepneys, the Memory Matrix’s jeepney form was intermittently interrupted by light and wind.
Concept and artistic direction: Azra Akšamija
Project development and production team: Lillian P.H. Kology, Josephine Turalba
Pixel designers: Art students in Manila
Production: Stefan Elsholz, Angeline Claire Jacques, Meng Sun, Ranu Singh, Julia Litman-Cleper, Kristen Wu (pixel fabrication team); volunteers of the London Biennale – Manila Pollination (pixel hanging)
Photographs: Josephine Tularaba
Sponsoring: MIT Memory Matrix funding, London Biennale – Manila Pollination
Public space installation, participatory project series
Part of the Memory Matrix project series.
Project commissioned by the London Biennale-Manila Pollination, Manila, PH.
Materials: 2 large steel fences, 10,000 neon-green acrylic elements, fishing wire, participatory design workshops
Dimensions: pixels, 5 x 5 cm; 2 fences, each 8 x 2 m