Pottery project_visual test2012

QUIPU

I researched various methods of how memories are retained. One method is referred to as ‘Quipu’ (see image 1-2 in appendices), which is sometimes called ‘talking knots’. This is considered the oldest tactile recording device dating back to the pre-literate Inca (Sze, 2005). In Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, it is written that:

QUIPU \’ kē-(,)pū\ n [Sp quipo, fr. Quechua khipu] (1704): a device made of a main cord with smaller varicolored cords attached and knotted and used by the ancient Peruvians (as for calculating)(Merriam In: Sze, 2005) 

The Incas relied on this method to record data. Cords of various colours were attached to a main cord with knots. These were used in a logical numeric and consistent way to help jog the memory of the user. The colours of the cords, the way the cords were connected together, the relative placement of the cords, the spaces between the cords, the types of knots on the individual cords, and the relative placement of the knots together all contributed to the information to be remembered. This method continued to be in use for thousands of years. Meanwhile, from this time on, you can also discover more about mnemonics and the various types that exist. Where there is something to memorise, mnemonics can be put to use. However, most examples found have been too difficult to decode up to now because of the number of permutations and much more and their analysis therefore becomes too complex. What is nevertheless fascinating is how the mind can use such methods to link visual representations with complex memories.

Appendices:

image1:

image2:

Visual test:

WORK IN PROGRESS_31 MAY 2012

AT CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS K201
ON 31ST MAY 2012