“You walk the earth you are forgetting.”
In the ancient art of memory (ars memoriae), a set of techniques (mnemotechnics) are used to aid acts of remembering and inspire reflection on the importance thereof. The lethatechnique focuses on Lethe instead of Mnemosyne and asks, if there is an art of memory, can there be an art of forgetting (ars oblivionis)? And if there are techniques for remembering, can there be techniques for forgetting (lethatechnics)?
The lethatechnique is an approach to documenting the presence of absence in images, writing, and music. By reconciling the positive and negative qualities of forgetting, the lethatechnique does not outline an escape or devalue remembrance. Instead, it provides ways to move forward while challenging limitations, actively unlearning what is not useful, and seizing creative opportunities before they are lost. The lethatechnique describes forgetting by building upon what has been forgotten, overlooked, or underestimated, and it encourages unlearning as a kind of learning. In addition, the lethatechnique seeks a forgetting that is virtuous, one that can be positioned as part of healing. The lethatechnique remembers, expressing and materializing important recollections that are fading. The lethatechnique also forgets itself.
Many thinkers have influenced the lethatechnique as defined here, including Paul Ricouer, Harald Weinrich, Umberto Eco, Nietzsche, W.G. Sebald, Chris Marker, and Czesław Miłosz.