The association chain

The principle

You link the items two at a time through a physical interaction. Image 1 acts on image 2, which acts on image 3, and so on. Recall works by pulling on the first link: the chain unrolls by itself.

The four rules of a solid chain

1. Interaction, never juxtaposition. A dog next to a ladder does not hold. A dog devouring the rungs of a ladder like a corn on the cob holds.
2. One interaction per link. Two images per scene, never three. Beyond that, the link snaps.
3. Exaggerated scale. One of the two objects has to be giant or tiny. Disproportion is an attention marker.
4. First-person point of view. You are in the scene, not in front of it. You feel it, you hear it, you flinch.

A worked demonstration: twelve items of shopping

Bread, batteries, toothpaste, coffee, oranges, bin bags, light bulbs, rice, soap, ice, scissors, milk.