Notebooks
It is the job of a Court Interpreter to translate both the trial proceedings to a witness, and their testimony to the court. As the witness attempts to recall events from memory, sometimes long passed, the interpreter must render those memories as faithfully as possible while remaining grounded in the immediate present. The Court Interpreter functions as translator, surrogate and interface—between the witness and the court, memory and reality, the past and the present. -Jordan Karney Chaim
“Based on my work as a Court Interpreter, these images belong to a series of drawings that reference the notes taken during witness testimony in order to ensure the accuracy and precision of the oral translation. They evoke the parallel process between the witness recalling memories and the interpreter, who disposes of memories as soon as they are formed, creating space for the next words to be interpreted. The quick, palimpsestic mark-making implies the ephemerality of memory, hinting at the rapidness with which language and art are often experienced, leaving us with only a lingering impression of the content.”