The gathering of collective memory. A pre-literate notion of memory, in a communal way, something commemorative rather than putting a memory in a container. What we thought it was going to be changed completely. We are in that way changing our memory of what it was supposed to be. What are you able to collect? Memories? Objects? People? A collection of texts and people, collecting and composing each other? Somehow it's not even important that we have all the knowledge, what's important is the living, generative sense of the collection.

The Repeater Archive

Biyi Wen

The Repeater Archive

The Repeater Archive

Biyi Wen

The Repeater Archive (2020) is an archival project that animates the repeater, a language learning aid device used in China during the 90s, and the experiences surrounding the use of this device.

The structure of the archive is reflective of the MediaWiki space, composed of thematic categories and pages documenting archival items. It is animated by a series of video lectures that feature "Onebigear", a character acting as the navigator for the archive. "Onebigear" embodies the childhood experiences of the archive creator, and embeds the archive within the historical time-frame and cultural context in which the repeater is situated.

More specifically, the archive elaborates on the affective features of the repeater: the disembodying process of transforming voices in situ to manipulative data; the disciplinary agenda of conforming to authentic accents; and the affective actions of interacting with the repeater interface.

The archive vividly testifies to the idea of the "anarchive", an archive activated by intimate experiences, productive nostalgia, and collective memory. As a generation of users came of age and disposed of the memories attached to the repeater, the archive creates another layer of space to critically document and reflect upon these memories.

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