Taylor Thomas sits in a chair inside the installation
Taylor Thomas '17 inside "Puzzle Pieces: A Memoryscape of Personal and Collective Identity," an immersive art installation she created as part of her senior honors thesis in film and media studies.

In the basement of Drew House dormitory, Taylor Thomas ’17 has transformed a small, windowless room into the embodiment of memory. Titled “Puzzle Pieces: A Memoryscape of Personal and Collective Identity,” the immersive art installation is part of her senior honors thesis in film and media studies.

“I’ve been filming my family for eight years, and this is my opportunity to turn the footage into something,” Thomas says. “I’ve created a room about family memory and the ways in which this ephemeral aspect of our identities can be physically reproduced in a tactile, immersive environment.” The installation includes three videos and two sculptures inspired by Thomas’s family.

Upon entering, the viewer sees two videos—10 Helens Way and 1,043—projected onto cloud-shaped sculptures that hang from the ceiling. “I created sculptures that embody what I think a memory is,” Thomas says, “and made them into objects you can engage with.” The sculptures, which took Thomas a month to build, are made out of chicken wire, paper towels, plastic and white sheets. 

The back of the space is set up to look like a living room. Two chairs, each with side tables, lamps and family photos, face a wall where a third video—5412 Ellis—is projected. “The general idea,” Thomas says, “is that you’re going home as you move through the space.”

The films provide a glimpse into Thomas’s own memories of her relatives and family homes. 10 Helens Way shows the construction of a house her parents are now building. “Soon it will be the site of new family memories,” Thomas says. 5412 Ellis depicts blurred photos of Thomas’s family, which she projected on a sculpture and then filmed.  

The final film, 1,043, looks as if it were shot from inside a car window and depicts blurred trees and sky passing by. “It’s about transit and moving through space,” Thomas says. “The colors and textures are about how, when you return to a space, it’s not empty: it has the memory of the times you last engaged with the space; it’s a building-up those past memories.” The title corresponds to the number of miles between the 10 Helens Way and 5421 Ellis addresses.

Thomas is one of five seniors to complete an honors thesis in film and media studies this semester. The others are Hunter Whitaker-Morrow ’17, Robyn Farley ’17, Noely Mendoza ’17 and George Liang ’17. 

To watch Thomas’s films and some of the others, visit the Department of Film and Media studies website.