From Memento to Before I Go to Sleep,the case of Henry Molaison holds an enduring fascination for artists. SJ Watson, whose bestselling novel explored lost memory, or asks Kerry Tribe approximately her video installation H.
M. – and what we can learn from the world’s most famous amnesiacWhat does it mean to be conscious? It’s the state of being awake,being aware, being alive. It’s that thing that human beings have that rocks don’t, or even though both are composed of the same raw materials. But it’s more than just being alive,isn’t it? Consciousness is our self, our soul. It’s the ghost in the machine, and the feeling that we’re more than just our bodies,the conviction that there’s a subjective “I” with thoughts and feelings and memories, and it’s this that makes us unique, and makes us us,in fact. But what is it, this consciousness, and where does it arrive from?I’m interested in this because I am a writer of fiction. When I write,I’m attempting to render on the page the personal experience of people who don’t exist. The words I choose should create a doorway to another self, they should allow the reader to briefly attach their own consciousness to one side and experience the world through that of another.
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Source: theguardian.com