Water, grass, stainless steel, nylon hose, pumps, sound equipment, wire rope, fasteners
Dimensions variable
HOW DO WE HOLD THESE THINGS TOGETHER? considers the process of new death technologies, such as water cremation, and what kinds of ceremonies, rituals or spaces might develop around these emerging body disposal methods. I was thinking about how we engage with life when we know that death is coming – thus the title. This was particularly pertinent for me as I was pregnant whilst developing the work and was increasingly aware of the liminal space between life and death during the act of childbirth.
HOW DO WE HOLD THESE THINGS TOGETHER? imagines a space for mourning, in which the deceased’s remains might form a sonic landscape for a period of time whilst loved ones take the time to say goodbye. I have attended both burial services and cremation services and noticed how different they are: in burial services, there is a durational aspect for mourners as the body is lowered and dirt covers the coffin. In the cremation services that I have seen, however, the body simply moves out of view without a durational equivalent to the lowering of the body into the ground. In HOW DO WE HOLD THESE THINGS TOGETHER?, I imagined how a durational equivalent might manifest for loved ones if a body was disposed of with water cremation – which, like traditional cremation, occurs out of sight. Each of the three vessels in “How do we hold these things together?” drips water onto a convex metal drum, amplifying the sound of the water falling. The varying tones of the three units create a meditative and rhythmic soundscape within the space. This sombre tone is however tempered by the lush grass; fed by the water as it falls from the drums, its intense green a nod to the interconnections between death and life.
Images by the artist.