PROCESS
Don’t Forget to Remember is a creative collaboration between the artist, Asbestos and film director Ross Killeen.
Both have lived experiences with their mothers having Alzheimers and Dementia respectively. Ross’ mother Patricia sadly passed away in 2019. Asbestos’ mother, Helena, is at an advanced stage with her Alzheimers. The pair are keen to further open honest conversations about it.
Don’t Forget to Remember is emotive, personal and artistic in its approach. Exploring the concept of memory and the self and how it relates the personal connections had with those living with Alzheimers.
The creative starting point of Don’t Forget to Remember goes back a few years now, starting with an exhibition I held in the Hugh Lane Gallery in 2022, entitled ‘Erase My Memories’. That show was inspired by the Joseph Beuys’ blackboards in the galleries collection. As part of the performance, I asked the public to come into the gallery space, where I’d placed three blackboards with chalk drawings of my Mum and her life, and during the performance, the public was asked to erase these memories. Ross was one of the first people to enter and he wrote “Don’t Forget to Remember” on one of the boards, as a tribute to his Mum, who had passed away from Dementia.
Using the metaphor of chalk and blackboards again, I took 15 photos of my family history and drew these on blackboards. They were then placed around the city with dusters and chalk, letting the public alter and change them. Sometimes they were slightly changed, other times utterly destroyed. Whether at the hands of the public, the sea, the rain, graffiti, worn away by a horse, eaten by snails, written over or rubbed out, all of them act as metaphors for the unreliability of memory and how some fade away through Alzheimer’s while other survive. My creative process often focuses on the public being about the contribute to the work after I’ve finished with it. By leaving the blackboards to the an unpredictable fate, I was both terrified and curious to see how they evolved. The public were often reluctant to alter the boards, or downright refused to touch them, but holy they changed and serve as a document of how memories fade in many ways.
For the animation sections in the film, I wanted to cut up copies of old family photos and alter them, destroying and rebuilding them over and over again. There’s a shot in the film that Naryan, our DOP, shot on 16mm film. It’s a slow zoom in on my Mum, as she looks calmly into the camera. Ross wanted this shot to thread through the film and to deteriorate as the film proceeded. To alter this section, I printed over 600 frames out and drew, scratched, burnt, cut and overlayed each of the frames, then photographing each one and piecing it all back together. If you freeze frame the film you might catch some random stream of consciousness I was battling with at 3am while making these animations. They’re too quick to catch, but I like that they’re gone before anyone can register them.
ARITIST’S
STATEMENT
LISTEN HERE
I have known Asbestos for many years from being involved in various endeavours around Dublin but we hadn’t seen each other in a long time when we met one day post Covid. He was doing a mural on O’Connell Street, Dublin and was taking a break. We did the usual “how have you been” chats and he told me about his mum’s diagnosis and how he and his family were coming to terms with it. I told him about my own family’s story. My mum, Patricia passed away in 2019 after a long struggle with Dementia.
As I chatted with Asbestos I realised that I hadn’t really spoken much about it before. It was a subject that was always a conversation killer. It is undeniably tragic and unfair for this to happen to someone and it is very tough for any family going through it. People find it hard to talk about it (myself included) and when myself and Asbestos spoke, we both felt a little bit lighter.
We kept the conversations going which led to discussions around a project we might do together. A film that could provoke conversation around this difficult subject.
Originally we thought it might be a short film or art installation but then an Arts Council grant came up for a feature documentary and we decided to put a proposal together. It all happened fairly quickly, our proposal was approved and we had the challenge of making a film in time for a premiere at the Dublin Film Festival in February 2024.
From the get go I decided that the film would need to be authentic and raw. I wanted to focus on three layers. The first layer was to sit in the room and observe life as a carer and the daily routine of caring for someone. The second layer was about following Asbestos and documenting his process from start to finish. The third layer was to give Helena a strong voice in the film. We are nothing but memories and when we lose them we can be forgotten. It was hugely important to hear her story and celebrate her life.
As much as this film is about Asbestos and his mother and father, it is also about my mother and father and I hope that people watching can see their own families in there too. Everything you see in this film is something that I went through with my family and I hope that these shared experiences can help others.
Don’t Forget to Remember is a film about family, the fragility of memory and art as healing. Most of all I think it’s a love story. For me, caring for someone in sickness and in health is the definition of true love. We want to provoke conversation with this film and celebrate our memories as they can never be destroyed.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
PRODUCER’S
NOTES
‘Don’t Forget to Remember’ is not just a film; it’s a journey into the complexities of memory, love, and resilience in the face of memory loss. Inspired by the personal experiences of Director Ross Killeen and Irish artist, Asbestos, we embarked on a mission to shed light on the profound impact of Alzheimer’s, not just on those diagnosed but also on their loved ones. Through art; particularly the poignant manifestation of memories on chalkboards which simultaneously serve as symbolic representations of the Alzheimer’s condition, we invite audiences to immerse themselves in a narrative that transcends traditional storytelling, offering a unique perspective on the human experience.
At the helm of this project is Ross Killeen, a documentary director renowned for his ability to portray trauma with grace and authenticity, as seen in his debut feature ‘Love Yourself Today’ (2021). This film is in collaboration with the acclaimed Dublin artist Asbestos, whose exhibition ‘Erase my Memories’ served as a catalyst for this film. It was during this exhibition that Ross and Asbestos first connected, engaging in profound discussions about the impact of caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s. The film offers an intimate portrayal of Asbestos’ own journey as an artist, caregiver and devoted son, injecting the piece with a personal and deeply emotional insight.
With Narayan Van Maele behind the camera and Vincent McEntee editing, we explored various visual styles blending mediums such as ARRI Alexa, Mini DV, 16mm and archive footage to create a unique tapestry of images. But it’s not just about the visuals; Asbestos’s photographic animation adds a layer of depth and introspection to the storytelling.
The film invites the public to confront a subject often shrouded in stigma. This act of releasing memories to be damaged and destroyed serves as a poignant form of acceptance for Asbestos, acknowledging that while he cannot stop his mother’s memories from fading, he can preserve their essence by sharing them; an approach that not only sparks dialogue but also fosters a sense of communal healing.
The film was awarded the Audience Choice and Honourable Mention at Dublin International Film Festival and will have its International Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest this June.
