Please note that due to the subject matter of this project (death/grief) some of the images on this blog might be disturbing.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Project

Julie Barratt
‘ Objects of the Dead.’
This project was borne out of the sudden recent death of my father, a handkerchief, some emotive words written by a sibling on his death and the traumatic aftermath of a death processed according to particular societal and cultural mores. At the declaration of death, the body becomes part of an institutionalised process, regulated, clinically handled, bureaucratised and mediated via psychological and behavioural, religious and cultural narratives and practises.

The death – he fell, head met the concrete, died.

The handkerchief –he carried one pressed in his pocket for as long as I can remember remembering. It’s all I wanted when he died. I arrived too late. All his personal belongings were gone. A charity received one life to give to another.

The words – written by my sister in the moments and days following my dad’s death.

The process – coping, obsession, making meaning, making sense, ritual, beauty, seeking softness in a world of tubes, morgues, institutionalisation

The project - This is the starting point of my project. It is then about bereavement, grief, death, about my connection to the objects of the dead. Where it will lead and how the practical work will be executed remains to be seen.

1 comment:

  1. This is a collaborative project and i hope to work with as many people as possible in my research into bereavement and grief. To be involved all you have to do is use a hanky as your canvas and create an artwork related to the themes mentioned and return them to me at the gallery by the end of March. The hankies received will be curated into an installation to be exhibited at the conclusion of the project. To be involved send me an email and I can pass on further information.

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