Artwork
Extended Memory
Extended Memory is a photography by Lena Athanasopoulou. It dates from 2009 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus.
About this work
The artist wants us to think about how we remember things, and how that can be different for each person.
You see a dreamy landscape in this photo.
It's not a real place, but a picture of a picture.
The artist used images from cheap shops to create this scene, which is a bit strange and magical.
This mix of real and fake is what makes it interesting - it's like a puzzle.
The artist wants us to think about how we remember things, and how that can be different for each person.
Check out the work of artist: Athanasopoulou, Lena (1979)
Overview
In the photograph titled Extended Memory, Lena Athanasopoulou constructs a landscape that is simultaneously familiar and unreal. The image presents a dreamy, fairy‑tale scene that does not correspond to any actual location; instead it is assembled from mass‑produced pictures of idealised nature sourced from low‑cost shops in London.
Subject & Meaning
Athanasopoulou’s work probes the way memory and desire shape perception. By juxtaposing a photographic lens with manufactured images, she invites viewers to consider how personal longing and the context of viewing alter what is remembered or imagined, even when the original scene has never been experienced.
Technique & Style
The artist photographs printed images of pastoral motifs that are sold cheaply in one‑pound stores, then re‑photographs them as a composite landscape. This layering of image‑upon‑image creates an uncanny, slightly eerie atmosphere that blurs the line between reality and representation.
Context
Extended Memory belongs to a series in which Athanasopoulou explores the reliability of visual memory. The series reflects broader contemporary concerns about the proliferation of reproduced imagery and its impact on how individuals construct personal narratives of place.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lena Athanasopoulou can sit in a café for hours, watching strangers’ faces shift as they scroll through their phones.
Museum
Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus
Continue through works from the same source collection.
