Loves last token: Trace Objects

My research explores the role that Trace Objects play in mourning and artistic discourse and practice concerning contemporary funerary rituals. Trace Objects is the term I have developed, through my research, to describe the personal items left at graves that act as markers of the identity of the deceased. Trace Objects can be items owned by the deceased, hand-made after an individual’s death, collected and purchased with the deceased in mind, as well as the headstone of the deceased. The term trace refers to an indication of the existence or passing of something or someone, in this case someone, and the objects left at graves are such an indication, hence the term Trace Objects. This idea of trace, and hence the use of this term used in this exegesis, refers to something that is not understood or recognised immediately but is the reflection of the people and experiences that contributes to the meaning of an object and how it is seen and understood; the trace is intrinsic to the Trace Object. The idea of the subtle, even subliminal, trace is also explored. My research draws on my interpretation of these objects, using phenomenological, anthropological, auto-ethnographic and site-specific methods, to inform my visual practice and explore and recontextualise the meaning of Trace Objects. By interpreting, deconstructing and re-contextualising Trace Objects, new dialogues on death are explored making a contribution to the demystification of death. I explore this topic through photographic installations and site-specific work by documenting and recreating the objects of memorialisation from Victorian funerary practices combined with contemporary funerary rituals. By comparing nineteenth-century western funerary practices with contemporary western practices, I explore the tension between the corporate dominance of the funeral industry and the rise of individuality in funerary rituals.