Walking Home: Former Fresnans in the Memory Palace

Abstract

Since 2012 Blake Morris has walked with people who grew up in Fresno, California and recorded their experiences in a site-specific Memory Palace based in Fresno's Tower District. Memory palaces link symbolic images to specific locations and are based on the strength of human spatial memory. Unlike an object created in response to a walk, a memory palace has to be imagined, and each participant manifests the images differently depending on their individual interpretation. This article discusses Morris' construction of a memory palace for Former Fresnans and the new relationship to home that exploration established.