Mortem: For artists to study death

About the Open Call

Mortem is a 10 day online death school for artists to pursue our curiosity of death and to explore and develop our identities as a death-curious artists. The virtual residency will involve daily live video lectures with international death care and funeral industry workers, historians, biologists and artists on a range of death related topics and several short one on one meetings with artists who make art about death around the world. Built in to the 2- 2.5 hours of daily programming are discussions, recommended assignments and show and tell. The program is designed to give insight into death knowledge and ritual from a wide range of perspectives. Biophilium death residencies facilitate talk about death. It is not grief therapy and won't ask you to dwell on pain from your past, although it will be an opportunity to share past experiences in a death positive context and most likely will be therapeutic. It will help you identify as an artist who works with themes of death and give you tools to talk about your work and to get involved with non-art professionals who also work with death. Biophilium residencies focus on experience and research by visual and conceptual artists. Artists, writers, poets, musicians and dancers are invited to apply. No previous experience related to death is necessary but a portfolio showing your creative practice is required to apply. You can see the artists who will be participating as they confirm here (scroll down to Mortem). You can see Mortem alumni here. Outline Death and art: Residents are invited to give a private artist talk to share your work with the group. Beautiful Death: The Art and Mystery of Mortality with the director of the Museum of Morbid Anatomy Johanna Ebinstein How to talk about impending environmental doom with photographer and documentary film maker Chris Jordan Frankenstein and the history of scientific study of the souls with Author Brandy Schillace Decoding the imagery on grave stones with Elise M. Ciregna of Harvard University Body disposition options: Talk to a funeral director to learn about standard burial and cremation processes Green burial activism with the Green Burial Council Embalming chat with an eco-casket builder Presentation of the history of death rituals around the world Death care: What to do when some one dies: a chat with a death doula Guided Radical Mortality Acceptance Meditation.

What is Offered

The virtual residency will involve daily live video lectures with international death care and funeral industry workers, historians, biologists and artists on a range of death related topics and several short one on one meetings with artists who make art about death around the world. Built in to the 2- 2.5 hours of daily programming are discussions, recommended assignments and show and tell. The program is designed to give insight into death knowledge and ritual from a wide range of perspectives. It will help you identify as an artist who works with themes of death and give you tools to talk about your work and to get involved with non-art professionals who also work with death. Official invitations will be given to accepted applicants to help suport grant and funding aplications.

Requirements

No previous experience related to death is necessary but a portfolio showing your creative practice is required to apply.

How to Apply

Send the following material to ArtLovesScience@gmail.com 1. Artist CV 2. Artist statement (about 200 words) 3. Application form PDF or docx 4. Portfolio 5 – 10 examples of your work Only applications that follow these guidelines will be considered.