Memory Within Art – The Invaluable Quality Of Expressionism
- Feb 16, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 4, 2025
Written by: Jack Rasmussen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Do we ever think about the truth behind the inspiration of art? Art is often autobiographical, healing, raw, emotional, and gripping. Where does that beauty come from? Of course, it comes from the need for emotion and connection. But, more basically, it comes from memory. Momentous moments in our lives leave lasting memories to share repeatedly with people. That sharing is the soul within our favorite art: music, books, films, history textbooks, and television shows. It all comes from a memory. A personal or collective memory provides an opportunity for documentation or a spark of inspiration from the past.
A film, for instance, that someone watches when they are young can inspire them to pursue a career in the film industry. Or the subject within the film can inspire them to pursue that subject. When we think about memories implanted within us and enabling us to act, the student experience often comes to mind. As students, we are learning something new every day. The impact teachers have on students is immeasurable because they can directly impact the future the student pursues.
At Screen360.tv, like SIMA Academy and TIFF, films are utilized as learning tools for students to learn about new cultures. The curriculum lenses and discussion accompanying each film enable students to empathize with, discern further, express, and deeply understand the themes, characters, cultures, geography, and languages represented within the film. The difference between a Netflix experience and an experience with Screen360.tv is the introduction of international peers and the film festival model. It is innovation in the eLearning space: global interactions, curriculum alignment, school classroom engagement, group experience, moderated Q&A, social-emotional literacy development, expertly curated content, cognitive impact, and filmmaker participation.
The point is to create directive and autobiographical memories within students’ minds to help them develop lasting cognitive and cultural empathy for the cultures of the world by viewing international films from each country of the world.
The embedded inspiration
Similar to how my appreciation for food drove me to write about restaurants or my interest in Asian culture drove me to write about the yin-yang symbol, the directive memories that are embedded in us can slowly build up and inspire us to take specific actions that alter the course of our lives.
Singers and songwriters do the same. Beyonce writes a song and sings a line with power and nuance because she lived that line before singing it. A memory informs the content of the line, and a memory informs the performance of the line.
Perhaps that is why art is so powerful. It is inherently nostalgic. As time passes, the lines and the performance of those lines can inform our next moves. Vivid memories are guides in our heads. What our parents say one day can influence who we marry or what job we choose. What our teachers say about us can affect the college we attend or what we feel we are skilled at.
The unseen power of memories
Memories are so powerful. They can haunt, trigger, inspire, and even paralyze us with guilt or shame. Memories are why people sometimes live in the past rather than the future, thinking over a situation constantly in the mind. Maybe someone cannot move on. Maybe someone wants to forgive and forget but cannot do it. Unforgettable moments help us define our lives.
Momentous Events, Vivid Memories (Harvard University Press, 2000) by David B. Pillemer is a beautiful book on the power of memory to shape ourselves, our moments, our motivations, our development, our past, our identity, our personality, and our place in culture. The funny thing is that memory is not perfectly accurate. Pillemer states, “[M]emory is an active, reconstructive process rather than a passive, reproductive process.” Our emotional and narrative memories often have spots missing, become fuzzy, and then disappear completely. However, according to a study by Heuer and Reisberg, we can often place trust in “vivid” memories of an emotional event.
Vivid memories stick with us forever
How do events become vivid? Originating events, anchoring events, turning points, analogous events, retrospective causality, critical junctures, and memory landmarks help us hold onto memories. It would be interesting to have vivid encapsulations of our whole past living in our heads, but that unfortunately, for better or worse, is not how our mind works. These types of memorable events serve to inspire a new belief structure or attitude, direct a new life course, link us to our past by illustrating our habits, and enable us to develop autobiographical narratives through idiosyncratic interest (Pillemer, 2000).
When we experience these flashbulb moments in our lives, they stick with us permanently, whether imagistic versus narrative or implicit versus explicit. The pure imagery of memory can be vivid: sensory experiences and feeling states. Or the explicit nature of verbal translation and conscious perception can be vivid. The vividness of our past lives in our present and alters our future (Pillemer, 2000).
The way we speak, act and create boils down to the nature of our memories. The art we create sprouted almost completely from memories with inspiration and altering from co-workers, producers, and the help we receive from others. Perhaps that is why some performances or pieces of work stand out. We can feel a heaviness and a deep-seated correlation between the artist and their work.
Gazing at the pastel work by Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893), I understand its timeless appeal. Maybe its longstanding longevity is because the painting feels autobiographical and haunting. Munch was mentally ill and purposefully painted his own emotional and psychological state. It is almost as if I am reading his memories while staring at the portrait, feeling pulled to help and understand him. The painting has inspired emojis and film adaptations while infiltrating pop art and culture.
Memories have a profound effect on what people create and the meaning of their lives. Once we realize this, we can come to understand ourselves better. Enjoy and use memories responsibly.
Jack Rasmussen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jack Rasmussen is a leader in the worlds of performance science, the food industry, religion, and entertainment. Growing up in Silicon Valley and studying Business, Cinema, and Journalism at the University of Southern California has allowed him to explore pathways forward to use art to raise the vibration and meta-awareness of people within their respective fields. He is the author of Fine Dining: The Secrets Behind the Restaurant Industry and Yin Yang: The Elusive Symbol That Explains the World. He wants to continue telling stories that inspire global citizens to explore the unexplored and become more cognizant of presence. His aim artistically: spread thought-provoking peanut butter and connective jelly.
