What archival hurdles must an image clear to enter our long-term memory banks? I could track down books about this subject. I could interview people smarter than I am. I could google the term and doubtless find a dizzying array of websites and downloads. What I’d like to offer instead is one artist’s idiosyncratic exploration of the pathways to indelibility.

AGAIN FROM THE TOP

Sometimes an image gains admission to the halls of long-term memory through sheer repetition and constancy. For over 30 years, Nike has stuck its swoosh logo on caps, sweatbands, sunglasses, shirts, gloves, hoodies, trunks, jackets, sweats, shorts, socks, shoes, shin guards, helmets, soccer balls, baseballs, basketballs, posters, print ads, websites, television commercials, billboards, and I’d guess, blimps. In the past 15 years in particular, the company has also produced what may be the most exquisite suite of commercials ever; 30-second epics of athleticism so exalted and stirring that even I, a sports know-nothing, am left weepy at the splendor of it all. All of this effort has paid off. In my memory, and in the memory of millions, the Nike swoosh hovers in the air like Michael Jordan at the apex of his leap, an angel of excellence.