Video of how this project works can be found below
How do we deal with death? How can we grieve better?
​
Those are the questions my project 'Something to Do with Death' explores.
When a loved one dies, there are a lot of things that need dealing with from close relatives and friends. Planning a funeral, dealing with the person's belongings, and other logistics. The funeral is draining, not only emotionally due to the loss, but also due to the social aspect of it, as well as the logistics. It may not be easy to find the time to grieve. This is not sustainable for the long run process of grieving. Neither is it sustainable for people who have delayed emotional processing.
​
Another thing that is lost are the little stories, the anecdotes of a person's life. The funeral itself is centred around the person's milestones and main characteristics. But what about the little stories? Where do they end up? Are they passed down between generations? How do we keep memories of a loved one secure?
​
Something to Do with Death attempts to offer a solution. Embroidery, like grief, is a slow process. A grieving person can embroider an icon, or a person, to represent a little anecdote or memory they have of their deceased loved one. Those emebroideries are then made interactive through the use of conductive thread and a touchboard. To properly preserve the memory, the person can record themselves telling the story of the embroidery. When the conductive thread in the embroidery is then touched, the fabric will tell the story back to you.
​
Processing loss through therapuetic creative activities can offer a place for a person's grief in a mindful way. Though, I do recognise embroidery may not be for everyone, let alone the technology of a touchboard!
Therefore, the development of this project is currently on hold