Eszter Biró ... mostly thinks about Photography
Eraser Works, 2016
In Eraser Works, I made a series of reenactments, to understand my ancestors' gesture of withholding family history; of intentionally erasing their past. Fortunately, they couldn't accomplish a complete erasure, and small
fragments of memory remain, that I try to make sense through my photographic practice. To translate such
gestures of a conspiracy of silence, of removing the past, I decided to visually translate their acts of erasure, by physically erasing their family photographs. Through such work, I gained significant insight into my family silence. űFirst of all, keeping silent is an on-going emotional and mental work; sharing is more instinctual to us.
Similarly, the material has resistance. I couldn't remove the deep blacks within the print; as much as the surface I
erased retained its presence through small rubber shreds.
As insufficient marks of memory fragments, they are part
of the full story; consequently, I decided to place them
back on the photographic surface.
The images on kraft paper represent my maternal line, referencing the material use of RecipeBook.
The images on lustre paper represent my paternal line.
Furthermore, there is an order that creates a gradient of comprehensibility.
 M1Dimensions: 150x135x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed kraft paper |  M2Dimensions: 150x95x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed kraft paper |  M3Dimensions: 150x200x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed kraft paper |
|---|---|---|
 M4Dimensions: 215x150x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed kraft paper |  P1Dimensions: 200x120x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P2Dimensions: 100x150x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |
 P3Dimensions: 145x200x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P4Dimensions: 200x120x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P5Dimensions: 60x80x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |
 P6Dimensions: 200x140x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P7Dimensions: 200x120x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P8Dimensions: 80x140x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |
 P9Dimensions: 90x150x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P10Dimensions: 80x13x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P11Dimensions: 130x200x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |
 P12Dimensions: 80x130x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P13Dimensions: 90x130x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |  P14Dimensions: 140x200x2mm mounted on plexy, eraser dust fixed on ink jet printed |
 S1Dimensions: 150x90x2mm Eraser dust on plexy |  S2Dimensions: 135x80x2mm Eraser dust on plexy |  Eraser Works in Drawer 1 |
 Installation view |