Mixed media installation
Guests will arrive and find themselves in the middle of a funeral service and they won’t necessarily be sure why. We are not necessarily sure why. Often the interpretation of the viewer is so integral to the success of the art work that one could question whether the artists themselves even need to have their own intentions.
At Johnson's Island, RIP (vol.1) was a group exhibition inspired by the idea of a fictional murder. We created a shrine in remembrance of the victim - composed of candles, incense, flowers, trinkets, and framed photographs. We adapted a humorous take on the dark idea of murder. The exhibition was seen as a parody funeral.
In our shrine, we featured cocktail umbrellas, glitter, and stock photos of women eating salad. We chose these photos to highlight the ridiculous hilarity of how happy these women look while eating something as flavourless as lettuce. We prepared phrases that were read aloud about how the victim was hated and how she will not be sorely missed. We describe how her laugh was annoying and how she acted condescendingly in class.
I created 2 individual pieces: one was a series of drawings of everyday odd objects that have been used in actual murders, such as a stiletto shoe or a corkscrew. The drawings allow the viewer to contemplate how someone would have used it to murder their victim.
My second piece was the Secret Book of Anger, a notebook inviting visitors to write down their angry thoughts using a pen with invisible ink. The writing is only visible under a blacklight. This allows the writer to express their anger in a healthy and non-destructive way, akin to a confession booth in church.
Handmade voodoo dolls were also created, along with pins available for the public to stick in the dolls. Many of the works in the exhibition were focused on the anger and emotions behind planning a murder, as opposed to the act of murder itself.
Artists
Yejin Eom
Zhiruo Gao
Bruna Pereira De Souza
María Luisa Sanín Peña
Colette Shaw
View RIP website >
