Hello Death, Where Have You Been All My Life?

The way we think about death affects the choices we make while we are alive. In the wake of Covid-19 and the social unrest that has defined our time,  the presence of death and grief in many of our lives has been unavoidable. Over the past two years, artist-researcher, community organizer, and Center for Craft grant recipient, Macon Reed has built Hello Death, Where Have You Been All My Life? an immersive installation that harnesses the social function of ritual space to reflect, process grief,  heal, and envision alternative futures.

Reed’s vibrantly-colored shrine-like space revolves around a monumental, central altarpiece covered in imagined ritual objects. These objects are based on Reed’s interviews with workers in the field of death and dying, including death doulas, chaplains, funeral parlor directors, grave diggers, and green burial advocates.   As viewers walk around the altar, they will come upon an interactive funeral parlor scene where the artist’s voice guides them through a meditation about death. Central to this audio is the idea that individual reflection on death may create collective change towards more purposeful and sustainable ways of living.

Hand-crafted primarily from paper-mâché, paper fiber clay, and gouache, Reed’s uncanny altar objects range from trumpets to loaves of bread. Seeming almost real, Reed modifies their scale and saturation just enough to indicate that you have entered an alternate realm. Unlike rituals that function in a prescribed order, Hello Death, Where Have You Been All My Life? implores viewers to prioritize what they value most, consider their cultural frameworks around death, and reflect on the potential of ritual and craft to heal.

Macon Reed is the recipient of the Center for Craft’s 2020 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. Each year this substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.

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