Abby Blenk: Entropy of a Memory

Artist Statement

Entropy of a Memory examines grief through the lens of degenerative illness and cognitive decline. Through phone interviews with my mother and grandmother, I detailed their perception of and responses to the loss of my aunt from Multiple Sclerosis and interwove the narratives to create an experimental documentary.

The film utilizes archival family photos, abstracting and manipulating them to evoke the disorientation associated with memory loss. Photos spanning decades of events are layered, reflecting the way time folds in on itself and ceases to move linearly in both grief and cognitive decline.

Entropy of a Memory studies loss on two fronts: the way we grieve the living before the loss, as well as the way we mourn when they are gone. The experience of losing someone is impacted, though not lessened, by the absence felt before the person dies. The speakers reflect upon fragments of realization that the person they know has changed, and the sort of numbness this long-term anticipatory grief has instilled in them. In voicing their experience as a story, they begin to process the loss as a whole.

2023 VADS - People's Choice Voting

About the Project

• Title of Work: Entropy of a Memory
• Medium: Experimental documentary to be displayed on monitor with headphones (not in traditional theater/screening setting)
• Student's Name: Abby Blenk
• Major: Digital Storytelling
• Anticipated Graduation Date: May 2023
• Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• Student's Mentor: Katina Bitsicas
• Mentor's Department: Digital Storytelling