Funeral Rites (for common objects)

1998

Ceramic boxes, miscellaneous items
Approx 10 x 15 x 12 cm

Realized in the land of the Rising Sun and echoing the Japanese art of wrapping, Funeral Rites consists of objects, such as batteries, a light bulb, a tube of toothpaste, a VHS, a lighter, etc., that are enclosed in ceramic boxes that act as coffins. Instead of being disposed like most everyday banal things, here the objects – at the end of their use, purpose – are treated to a noble ceremony. As if in the ritual of cremation, they are fired at 1200°C burning off all, including plastic and glass, but the outline traces of the oxidation of metal parts.