Some glasses

I've been seeing if I can make a few things which could be Christmas gifts and I engraved these glasses recently as a trial to get back into hand engraving which I have experimented with a bit before. I'm trying very hard to make the line quality less like that of postcards you receive from people who are "writing this on a bumpy road" in some distant land.

British Museum

So on November 11th we welcomed people to the afterlife from 6 until 8:30pm and it was so fun! After our weeks of preparation and a lot of trips to Whitten Timber and much help from others, we sorted out roles for everyone, Vivi and Henry were at the ticket table inviting people to take part and they flipped a coin to determine whether they went to a nice afterlife or a bad one. we had an offerings table where people drew what they would like to offer to the gods to give them a safe passage; after that, they went their separate ways to get robed and into the coffins for a short while with the lids closed. I was at the end of the performance to take the offerings which people drew for the gods and got to talk to them about the experience.

Here is the coin we used which Vivi is modelling. I made it out of Fimo painted gold from some designs drawn kindly by Brigid

Here we all are on the evening. Apparently the height order was my idea

Everyone in position waiting for the first customers

Anastasia being prepared in robes made by Vivi, also thank you Zoe for being our photographer for the evening

Finally our offerings board by the end of the evening!
Thank you very much to vivi for having a camera and letting me use the pictures.

Playing with orange peel

Welcome To The Afterlife

This is the title of a project which Vivi, Henry and myself have been working on for the past few weeks.

We're making two coffins with guardians of the afterlife on hand to help people climb in and then close the lid for a short while causing the person inside to experience what it is like to lie in a coffin while at the same time contemplate their life so far.

In Korea, a similar experience is offered as a suicide deterrent. We will be taking a more light-hearted approach with a ticket stand and a coin which we will flip to determine whether the afterlife you go to is a nice one or a dark one. We are all making the coffins and then Henry made the offering cards and tickets, I made the coin and Vivi made the gowns which I have no photo of at the moment.

This event is for one night only at the British Museum in Room 4 Living and Dying and is part of the Grayson Perry Late Night opening.

Here are some photos of our work in progress.