The Skinning of Memory (VP2) / 2010
The Skinning of Memory (VP2) / 2010

The Skinning of Memory (VP2) / 2010

“Machine and human have begun to fold onto each other. In turn, this has created what I refer to as a ‘second skin’. It is through this new skin that we have begun to access memory and identity. A possible endgame to all this may be less dramatic than we had originally thought. For it is not the machine, which will rise up to embrace and simulate the complex nuances which define humanity, but the exact reverse. We will, in turn, succumb to the machine’s own limitations, adapting to its own vision and language of what it means to be human”. (Naccarato 2009)

Image 03: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) 20’W x 17’H x 16’D, Installation. Partial overview of VP2: left center. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) 20’W x 17’H x 16’D, Installation. Partial overview of VP2: left center. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Vertebrae, Part 2 (VP2) Installation, Overview

The Skinning of Memory, Part 2 or VP2 was completed during the second semester of my Masters Degree in Fine Arts at the University of Ottawa, 2009.

VP2 was meant as an exploratory extension of my first childhood chimerical experience, as well as the possible chimerical and transformative outcome of technology’s relationship to memory through objects.

  • cropped: The Medium of Television: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) 20’W x 17’H x 16’D. Immersive, Trans-media, Installation. Partial overview of VP2: right top. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Canada 2009
  • Image 15: VP2 partial overview, Naccarato - Right Top Detail - TV Set, massage table, painted floor, coaxial cables
  • Image 09: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Partial Overview. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Image 14: VP2 -Center, Detail - two hollow glass containers covering small mounds of sugar and in the far background, the right side wall of VP2, showing a simulated construction of spinal-like cord system made up of sewing paper patterns, internet cable and wiring and acrylic paint.
  • Image 06: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Partial Overview. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Image 06x: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Partial Overview. Artist Studio, University of
  • Image 06b: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Partial Overview. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Image 05 header: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Detail. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • VP2, Naccarato, 2009 - Lower Left Wall, Detail - painted floor, canvas, electrical and coaxial wire
  • Image 11: VP2, Naccarato - Top Right Floor, Detail -Coaxial Wire, whole and stripped, wood canvas stretcher, painted floor
  • Image 08: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Detail. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Image 07: John Naccarato, Vertebra, Part 2: The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Detail. Artist Studio, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

The methodology behind the construction and development of VP2 simulated an archaeological and anthropological approach – the unearthing, examination and reconstruction of objects, discovered in and around the University of Ottawa campus and city of Ottawa.


Below are links to texts related to The Skinning of Memory (VP2) Installation that were published as part of my MFA Thesis, 2010. Specific segments have been revised and updated for this post. John Naccarato, 2022