forget or to be forgotten
2010
30*40*5cm I framed
golden locket 1875-1901 I found noteMarie Snauwaert (BE), Lauren von Gogh (ZA)
In 2009 Marie Snauwaert and Lauren von
Gogh changed hometowns – Ghent/Johannesburg. Snauwaert collected lockets made of gold
from pawn shops, while living in Johannesburg. At the same time, von Gogh subconsciously
collected handwritten letters, shopping lists and notes she found on long walks
in Gent.
Background information lockets:
Lockets open to reveal the essence of a loved one, containing
photographs, locks of hair, or any other item that may stimulate sentiment. A
locket functions as a treasure, a holder of memory. After the discovery of gold on
the rand in 1886, Johannesburg, the demand for gold lockets increased. The city
was built, literally and economically, on the same gold that made these
memory-clasps.
Today, over a century later, the majority of the original owners of
these lockets have faded into history, and the lockets have been lost, pawned
or sold. Johannesburg’s supply of gold ore is gradually running out. Mining
companies strive to refine and re-refine old mine-dumps to sift out the last
microscopic trace of the precious metal. The Top Star Drive-in situated on top
of one of Johannesburg's mine dumps has been shut down for this purpose.