The Sin-eater Part II or the Proposal
a virtual memorial (Part II)
In part I, I spoke about the evolution of the idea and now here is the whole kit and kaboodle —
INTENTION — To build a memorial in the virtual and physical worlds as a place of remembrance, reflection, experimentation and connection.
The Sin-Eater is an interactive virtual memorial created by its participants.
Participants are called to action through a series of creative exercises posted on the internet. The resulting creations (collage, painting, drawing, video, audio, photographs, etc.) to be photographed or recorded and submitted to a website, where they will be shared publicly through various outlets including:
- the Sin-Eater’s site
2. social media
3. exhibition space
Active participation demands that the participants are not only consumers of culture but the creators of it as well. In the end, the goal is to
1. provoke a critical dialogue about the existing social and political structures; specifically regarding our notions about a memorial as a form of public art and how it will be used,
2. call into question how death is viewed, celebrated and/or ignored in contemporary society (specifically in the Western Hemisphere.),
3. aid in healing, creating a space to mourn the loss of those we have loved and lost.
CONCEPT-the project is a monument to memory in virtual space.
Unlike a typical three-dimensional monument, built in physical space, which commemorates an event or a significant group of people, the monument is built in a virtual space to honor the people who died for reasons normally associated with the feeling of shame and considered taboo (i.e. overdose, suicide, who contracted AIDS from shared needles, drug addiction, in the context of violence etc.) In this sphere, it is often forgotten that these individuals had families, partners, people who loved them and the unspoken shame associated with this essentially means that the people that are left behind are often unable to fully grieve or are left feeling angry or shamed since the deceased are not honored in the public eye.
Releasing Shame, Releasing Blame
Furthermore, the memorial also questions the concepts of place and memory. The places, events and memories related to the lives of these people (both the creators and memorialized) constitute the foundations of the project. We may have a sense of time and place in our memories but time tampers with our memories. Memories are open to interpretation. Memory is prejudiced in that it is somethng personal and within the context of a specific persons reality. How we view the world is never objective.
Place & Memory
To those creating the memorial, the concept of place is meaningful. Yet, place is beyond geography, it is a memory encased in emotion, perverted by our personal experience. However, within the context of the memorial, place becomes meaningless because the memorial is virtual, thereby it is everywhere (and no where.)
Everywhere & No Where
How it works: After posting a short video explaining the basis of the project, each month, 2x each month during a period of 12–18 months new creative exercises will be posted. Anyone can complete and sumbit an exercise. All of contributions from the public will be posted individually as they come in. Contributions can be public or anonymous. Some works will be compiled into new multi-media works, for example , a series of collage images may be brought together to compose a video or a mix of audio files will be edited together.
My role:
1. Create a quasi-narrative piece (video montage)-using a number of original visual representations created pictures with this theme and combined with audio, song titles and will be published on YouTube and the website created for this project, this being the starting point.
2. Create a series of expressive paintings, photographs and other media that will be accompany some of the exercises and will used as basis for some of the exercises and/or to be used in the explanitory video montage. These will not be examples of what the public will create but illustrative ideas about death culture — i.e. images from Day of the Dead, historical references, emotions, etc. Some of these images to be used to create the video described in #1.
3. Create and curate the site
Public’s/Contributor’s Roles
1. Complete and submit creative exercises.
2. Participate in conversation if so desired through social media or commenting on the site.
Examples of the CREATIVE EXERCISES or Public Projects
Each project is based on a public question or a quote that express an idea. They will be presented through a multi-media works, short which would explain the concept and what measures should be taken to completing it. In the following we enumerate some ideas for public projects:
I. Write a short biography of this person-maximum 100 words. Then you’ll have read biography aloud and recorded as an audio. Submit audio file to site.
II. Create a ritual to honor this person and while performing the ritual, record it on video or photo. Present the JPEGs or videos.
III. Making a collage of images or 20 adjectives to describe this person-from a newspaper, a magazine or from personal collection. Scanning or photographing and submitting the file.
IV. Making a shadow box with the author’s feelings about this person by using the objects found. Photographing and submitting the file.
V. Sharing a memory about that person with someone else. After this will be a collage of colors (using paper, paint or objects found), which describe the author’s emotions regarding this experience.
VI. Writing a letter from this person-what if would like to say? scanning, photographing or listing it resulting in a JPEG image file, is sent to the site.
VII. Presentation of an image with the person that you can lose (enlarge and photocopy an image). The photocopy of the image will be superimposed on a large piece of paper. Around the image will draw, paint or paste images from magazines or newspapers.
Is the sin-eater starving? or do you want to feed him?
If you’ve read part I, you’ll know that although there was interest and a website no one participated — I promoted the idea on social media and published at least 20 articles on the site but still it just didn’t happen. Please feel free share your thoughts and feelings in the comments.
Help me spread the word about this project by sharing it and/or tapping on the ❤ button at the end of this post. Maybe the time has come for it to come to fruition.
You can also read more of my articles here which include a series entitled Artists I Like or you can simply opt to get notified when I publish more articles when you join my list by clicking the link below:
About The Author
Amy Adams is a fine artist (MFA Painting — University of Art & Design Cluj-Napoca [Academia de Arte Vizuale Ion Andreescu]) living and working out of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is passionate about the visual arts and music.
You can connect with her on your choice of social media outlets including — Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook — get contact info on her website.
