Abstract of Master essay - 10 HP

Izabel Lind Färnstrand

Mentor: Emma Kihl

Examinator: Sigrid Sandström

How to Prepare for Death

In this essay I dwell into the failures of our moral senses in relation to the concept of death. How does modern death culture affect our way of life and our ability to take responsibility for the life and death of others? These questions are formed by these current times and affect both my art practice and my everyday life.

When facing death within my family it occur- red to me that my and my family’s relationship to death is failing us. I have become frustra- ted with the fear and silence that seems too natural to my surrounding. Not being able to talk about a part of life that is inevitable seems irrational.

It became clear when the lack of under- standing and acceptance of death caused relatives an immense suffering. The struggle seemed unnessesary and urged me to try to understand more, based on their deaths. Seeing how very different the experience of dying can be made me wonder what makes a ”good” death possible for some and others not. From there my interest in the topic death culture and fear emerged, and this essay touches on this in a variety of aspects.

I use my personal experiences in combina-

tion with thoughts of others to talk of layers of these issues through my artistic practice. This personal method is my way of trying to structure a thinking – in a way that I can use and make sense of it – with a varied level of success.

I feel it is important to note that I don’t claim to have any answes. This essay is more an attempt to pose questions around human behaviour. Even though many of these ques- tions have been asked over and over again, throughout different times, I believe it is impor- tant to ask them again and again. As long as the Human is part and violently effecting this suffering world.

Many of the thoughts in this essay are based on fragments of ideas by Judith Butler, espe- cielly from her book Frames of War: When is Life Grievable? (2009). I also reference Caitlin Doughty’s From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death (2017) and and Sogyal Rinpoche The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (1992). The themes gathered that I try to make use of in this essay and in my artistic practice are purpose, fear, death, health, happiness, narcissim and resposibility.

Abstract of Artistic work

How to Prepare for Death

@ Galleri Mejan, Exercisplan 3, october 2019

Media: Spatial installation with a performance (1 h)

Materials: Clay, plaster, metal & red plastic film

How to Prepare for Death is a spatial installation in one of the gallery rooms of Galleri Mejan. The work includes the whole space of the area, such as the floor and the walls. You step into an altered reality, where the floor is covered with clay that is cracking increasingly over time and windows that are tinted red so that the air you breath seems red. When you enter your eyes need to adjust and after a while it is rather the outside that seems colored, neon green -  the complementary color of red. From the clay there are metal rods sticking out vertically, with plaster sculptures at the end. These sculptures are broken, and resemble body parts with a medical aesthetics. Similar sculptures come out from the walls, like fragile fragments of something that used to be. When you walk around the sculptures the clay crackle under your feet, and crumble into smaller pieces and dust. It is constructed as an ambivalent experience of nothingness, emptiness, ”afterness” and a sanctuary of thoughts. My questions about life and death drive me to investigate how to create spaces for these subjects to feel present, so that we can face our fears.