MOURNING A STRANGER
An exhibition together with Hugo Pilate, 2024
Can you mourn that which you have not lived alongside of? And if not, what are you to do when echoes of their lives brush up against you? Traces of past lives surround us, in the gentle giants of the Gothenburg harbor cranes, to the lasting impact of the Grén family's commitment to the green urban spaces of Gothenburg. If it is clear how we might visit them out of curiosity, or to pay our respects, it is less evident how they inhabit us in our daily lives and help us channel our imaginaries, our convictions, our losses.
Over the course of a week, we went on walks to two different areas, chosen for the stranger they represented, and captured 3D scans along the way. Through this process, we explored our respective, distant, relationship to two very different strangers through the very very imperfect craft of photogrammetry. These scans were then rendered and collaged to create artworks on the walls. Together the body of work explores the role of the creative process in paying
tribute to those whose lives have passed.
Can you mourn someone you’ve never known?
My inquiry takes place in the English park at Lilla Änggården, created by the Grén family, where the father is believed to have planted a tree for each child. Of the five children, three died at a young age. These trees have long stood as living markers of their memory. In 2023, one of these trees fell, now known as the Fallen Family Tree. Its fall exposes the fragility of memory and the material traces through which grief endures, revealing how absence continues to shape both the landscape and its histories.This work explores how traces of past lives shape our imaginations and grief. Through 3D scans of meaningful places, collaged images, immersive technology, and a performance where lost children's names are written aloud, the VR piece becomes aquiet act of remembrance.
LINKS
Hugo Pilate