Assignment 6: Making a Scene

 

Roles: 

 (Actors): Kim (Corpse/Mound), Tate (Enthused heir), Kyro (Mourning relative). 

(Costume): Tate.

(Props): Kim.

(Lighting and Makeup): Kyro.

Script: 

> A mourning relative in a room.

> A bed separates the relative from a cracked door. 

> The environment is out of place. 

> An enthused heir is looking. 

> A corpse presence exists but is unclear. 

> The enthused heir thinks, "Everything is perfect." 

Inspirations and references: These are simply starting points that directed my interest for the project. They do not majorly impact the entire direction of the work, but they were considerations to having all these elements speaking with one another in conversation within the photograph. I should also mention that I was just general interested in themes of mourning and bodily health during this contemporary time within the context of this 'never-ending' pandemic. 

https://www.nicolasbrunophotography.com/

Ruth Richardson, "The Sanctity of the Grave Asserted" in Death, Dissection and the Destitute (Second Edition) (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2000), 79-99. 

- Provides information regarding the shift in 19th century around caring for the corpse, the impact of the Anatomy Act, Caring for the dead, the complexity of Body snatching, and the human corpse as a commodity. 

Julie-Marie Strange, "Caring for the Corpse," in Death, Grief and Poverty in Britain, 1870-1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 66-97. 

- Outlines practices for caring for the deceased prior to morticians, anatomists, and capitalist funeral practices. Some include: Proximity of the corpse, Laying out the dead, Viewing the body, The wake, and Post-Mortem.