Projects: Art Box / for the exhibition Boxes To Die For 2019
Art Box
The exterior panels for the Art Box Casket are artworks that my fiancée and friends have made specifically for me, or that I have commissioned or purchased from artists I admire. Some of the panels are blank in the anticipation of finding the right artists to fill them.
These panels are designed as wall-hung artworks to be enjoyed throughout my life, reminding me of my mortality and inspiring me to be present and live each day as fully as I can. When the time comes for my funeral ceremony, the panels can be assembled and locked together on a stretcher type base to form my casket. Rather than these art pieces being burried with me, the casket panels will be demounted and put aside to later disperse among my friends and family. It is intended that the panels/works become heirlooms, possibly even being incorporated into other people’s death ceremonies when their times come.
Once the panels are taken off the base structure, the base with my shroud covered body will be burried at the Eco Cemetery in Makara, Wellington NZ. The Poplar-wood base is designed to biodegrade with my body to provide nutrients for the surrounding trees.
Materials: Poplar, Recycled Rimu, Matai, Southland Beech, Puriri, Leather, Sheepskin.
Installation locations in 2019: Messler Gallery, Rockport, Maine, USA.
Current location: Collection of the Artist
Sacha Lees
Messler Gallery and Boxes
To Die For Exhibition Images.