Accession Number
2000/2.11.1

Title
Memory Matrix

Artist(s)
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1967

Medium & Support
screenprint on paper

Dimensions
40 3/16 in x 26 9/16 in (102.08 cm x 67.47 cm);48 in x 32 in x 2 in (121.92 cm x 81.28 cm x 5.08 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Diane M. Kirkpatrick

Subject matter
As one of the founders of the Independent Group, Paolozzi was an early British Pop artist. This series of ten prints came after his travels in California, where he visited tourist sites like Disneyland, Frederick's of Hollywood, and Paramount Studios, as well as centers of technology: UC Computer Center, Standord's Linear Accelerator center, Douglas Aircraft Company and the GM Assembly Plant in Hayward. The combination of imagery from popular culture and the technological imagery of dot matrixes and circuit boards creates a stage in which art and science can be in dialogue. In this work, Paolozzi takes the design of the circuit board and makes it into a kind of colorful tapestry. Like many other prints in this series, the text at the bottom refers to technological advances, here a listing of computer terms. 

Physical Description
This print has a large panel in the center with a grid pattern in dark blue, orange, green and pink. It is bordered on the left and right by a grid of tiny dark blue dots on a light blue background and a vertical band of dark blue dashes. At the top, there are two rows of small dark blue squares on a light blue background, and a single dark blue band above it. At the base, there is text in light blue on a dark blue panel, which reads: "MEMORY MATRIX. MEMORY CAPACITY - The amount of information which a memory unit can store. See Capacity. MEMORY, CORE - See Core Memory. MEMORY CYCLE - An operating consisting of reading from and writing into memory. MEMORY DUMP - A process / of writing the contents of memory consecutively in such a form that it can be examined for computer or program errors. MEMORY, EXTERNAL - See External Memory. MEMORY FILL - Placing a pattern of characters in the memory registers not in use / in a particular problem, to stop the computer if the program, through error, seeks instructions takes from forbidden registers. MEMORY, INTERNAL - See Internal Memory. MEMORY, MAGNETIC -See Magnetic Memory. MEMORY, PERMANENT - See Permanent / Memory. MEMORY PRINT - See Memory Dump. MEMORY, RAPID - See Rapid Memory. MEMORY, RAPID ACCESS - See Rapid Access Memory. MEMORY REGISTER - A register, in some computers, used in all transfers of data and instructions between the memory, / arithmetic unit, and control register. Also called a high-speed bus, distributor, or exchange register. MEMORY, SLOW - See Slow Memory. MEMORY, THIN-FILM - See Thin-Film Memory. MERCURY MEMORY - Delay lines using mercury as the medium for / storage of a circulating train of waves or pulses. Also called mercury storage. From FOULSHAM-SAMS pocket dictionary of COMPUTER TERMS. / APRIL 1967". Print is signed and dated (l.r.) in pencil "Eduardo Paolozzi A/P 1967".

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Pop (fine arts styles)
artists' proofs
circuit boards
dictionaries