“Life is short”
Life is short, eat the doughnut. Life is short, go for the long walk. Life is short, think deeply. Life is short, take chances. Life is short, write the damn book. Life is short, love hard. Life is short …
Memento Mori
Iva Morris’ Day of the Dead Series (2012)
Jubilee (2012) Southwest Gothic. Pas de Deux. More at the artist’s website.
Aubade, by Philip Larkin (Devs, 2020)
A mesmerizing scene from the penultimate episode of Devs, written and directed by Alex Garland. Set in the near-future, the series posits the creation of a quantum computer that can be used to experience any moment of the past or future, and which may bring about the end of reality according to natural law. The … Read moreAubade, by Philip Larkin (Devs, 2020)
“What Justifies a Life? In Memory of Liam McCarty”
Jared Morningstar writes for Medium in memoriam of his friend Liam, and on the intrinsic value of life in relation to death: To be is also to experience, and the conscious experience of human life is something of both irreducible individuality and incomparable richness. In merely experiencing life as ourselves — in all its complexity … Read more“What Justifies a Life? In Memory of Liam McCarty”
“This Halloween, Let’s Really Think About Death”
Elizabeth Bruenig writes for The Atlantic: Halloween is no approximation of the firsthand experience of death. But it does foreground the visceral fear of death (occasionally via viscera itself). And it offers an opportunity to engage playfully with the idea of dying, through community celebration rather than solemn contemplation—or jarring confrontations with violence in headlines … Read more“This Halloween, Let’s Really Think About Death”
Fall is Falling
Some photos from recent river walks, as we approach the Day of the Dead: Fallen leaves blur the edges of the path, as befits the season. Layers upon layers … The first owl I’ve ever spotted along the river path. Fire and water. When the river runs gold – that’s the cue. The riffle, where … Read moreFall is Falling
Memoria 2023
Today is the first day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and the seasons are visibly (and in other ways) shifting. From my own perspective, within my own Way, this marks the unofficial beginning of Memoria; a festival of harvest and remembrance before the onset of the winter months. That festival will “officially” begin when … Read moreMemoria 2023
VR Near-Death Simulation and Memento Mori Rituals (New York City, September 2023)
On the afternoon of September 17th, nine participants gathered in the Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn, NYC to undertake an experiment in ritual space and time, guided by artists Bridget Carey, Tony Wolf and Virgil Wong. The main gates of Green-Wood Cemetery, just a few minutes’ walk from the Morbid Anatomy Library. Note the large … Read moreVR Near-Death Simulation and Memento Mori Rituals (New York City, September 2023)