Humanising the ancestors
We get quite a few emails here at the GFG from makers of ashes urns. Most of these urns are ghastly and get no more than a thanks but no thanks. We are unfailingly courteous. This morning was an exception. We received some stunning images from a Plymouth-based ceramist, Alan Braidford — in answer, it […]
Ashes
Ashes at the funeral home six hundred still to be collected small boxes, cardboard, filed in rows a kind of shell grit for the chickens fifteen years six hundred still that somehow somewhere should be scattered: sown like seed across a paddock thrown as gravel upon water or set there upon the mantelpiece and added […]
Psych-Vikings
Here’s some text from Consequence of Sound: Everyone deals with death in their own personal way, but psych-rock outfit Crystal Antlers offers a unique perspective on the topic in their music video for “Dog Days”. In said clip, a group of friends commemorate a dead friend by carrying around his/her ashes in various cups and cookie jars, […]
Cremains of the day
We’ve always liked Daisy coffins. They’re a quality product and use a range of lovely looking, renewable materials: water hyacinth, banana leaf, wicker — imported, of course. The people at Daisy are nice, too. Daisy don’t just make nice coffins, they also thoroughly understand design. They present themselves beautifully. They use an excellent graphic designer; their ads […]
Brutally creative chaos
You may remember this post, The Chaos of Meaning, about the photographic essay which Jimmy Edmonds created in commemoration of his son Josh. If you missed it, click the link and go see it; it’s rare that we are lucky enough to post anything so extraordinary and beautiful. Above is a trailer for a film […]
The chaos of meaning
We have just received the following press release: In early 2011, Jimmy Edmonds’ son Joshua was killed in a road accident in SE Asia. RELEASED is a photographic essay and a personal response to the tragedy of his son’s death. Intended for publication both as an exhibition and as a book, the project features a mix […]
Up, up and away…
“You have landed on the latest, most innovative, honorable, and dignified way to “release” and scatter ashes, reverently up and away into the air, like a cloud forever and ever. An ash scattering event that is unforgettable, heartwarming and memorable. Several years of design and engineering were invested to create an automated cremation urn, The […]
The Importance of Being Urnest
That Brits are born with an acute and possibly pathological sensitivity to absurdity is well known. The Great American Funeral has engendered great and gloriously funny books by Jessica Mitford and Evelyn Waugh, neither of which had more than minimal success in laughing Americans out of their (perceived) absurdity. There is method in the funerary lunacies of […]
Picking up the patriarch’s ashes
James Showers, sole proprietor of the Family Tree Funeral Company, undertaker to the discerning decendents of Gloucestershire, has been badgering me to rediscover something he lost on his computer. He thought it might be on mine, since I once sent it to him. It’s not. But by dint of indefatigable googling I have unearthed it. […]
The Modern Mourner
I wonder if you spent any time over at The Modern Mourner yesterday? If you didn’t, think again and have a gander. It is the creation of Shirley Tatum, a generous spirit who signposts her readers to all manner of more or less wonderful designers. Okay, there’s nothing quite so divisive as taste, but I’m going […]
