What Does Life After Death Look Like? Catalogue.

Aim

To ignite a conversation, to create a space in which insightful and creative conversations of Life and Death can take place.

Note: I have been encouraged by a number of people that it would be a good idea to keep the crowdfunder open for the duration of the project. Thank you so much for all of your support!

I would like to ask for your donations to help me in the creation of a project called “What Does Life Look Like After Death?”

Its aim is to ignite a conversation, to create a space in which insightful and thought-provoking conversations and creative explorations of Life, Death and Life After Death can take place in a supportive and engaging environment where a community of people can meet, inspire and empower one another. 

About the project:

The exhibition, 'What Does Life After Death Look Like?’ explores reality beyond life as we usually understand it.

Does Life After Death look like anything at all? Does it have a sound frequency, a colour combination, a pattern, a form? Each one of us has a unique perspective on this, and yet this question also contains the fundamental shared experience of being alive, here and now, continually returning to these questions and creating ungraspable, absurd things like art, poetry and portals to the unmanifested. Expect to encounter engaging and challenging works, from a range of disciplines (painting and photography to live art) exploring the liminal spaces between creation and cessation.

Inspiration for the project:

This project, which consists of an open call for responses to the question 'What Does Life After Death Look Like?', an exhibition with performance events, workshops and an online catalogue documenting the responses, emerged from personal encounters with loss and transformation. 

The curation of my late father's retrospective exhibition, ‘The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far’ at the Globe Gallery in Newcastle, 2020-21, which he was able to visit 2 weeks before his death, and my participation in the Baton of Hope, the UK's biggest suicide prevention initiative, have shown me a palpable connection between art, the human spirit and the processing of life and death. Both experiences have informed my approach to and intentions driving the project and exhibition.

What others have said about being involved in the project so far:

• “It motivated me to complete artworks.”
• “It helped me to move through my creative block.”
• “It has given me a rise in motivation, energy and focus working toward something with a purpose beyond myself and beyond ‘art’.”
• “It has been an empowering process.”
• “I’m so looking forward to meeting the others involved, becoming a part of a community of people with shared interests and experiences.”

How your donations will help:

Your donations will afford me the time and space to carry out the necessary tasks involved to see this project to fruition.

All of the tasks require time and focus. And some cost money. To have the time to conduct this project I am living minimally with no disposable income. I believe this is a worthwhile sacrifice that will help both myself and the others involved in a variety of ways. 

Sometimes we forget how much work is involved in bringing an idea into physical reality, so I thought I’d list some of the tasks involved:

• Being the sole point of contact and support for those involved. Emails, phone calls, physical meetings. 
• The organisation and study of submissions.
• The writing of accompanying materials. 
• Preparing the space for exhibition: Painting gallery walls, filling holes. Creating floor plans ahead of receiving artworks. 
• Sourcing and installing equipment needed for exhibition: digital projectors, sound system, media player(s), headphones, screws, drill, wall paint and so on.
• Installation and curation of exhibition and events containing: live, digital, physical and written work. I’m also co-running some of the workshops and manning the exhibition during its opening.
• Advertising:  Writing a variety of texts to serve different purposes. Contacting local and national press, charities and arts communities. Creating digital content. Sustaining an online presence.
• Creating my own artworks: This is mainly just a case of time and space to be present with ideas, as I am working from home. But also some equipment like paints and sculptural materials.

This is full-time work. The potential benefits for me and the other artists involved and the gallery audience, which hopefully will include you, are abundant. I believe this project will function as a springboard and put me, and the other artists involved, in a better position to receive funding and other opportunities from a variety of sources following the exhibition. But it does require money, which I don’t have. Which is why I’m turning to you for help. All donations will be very gratefully received.

Thank you in advance for your kind support.

Visit: www.amysouth.co.uk for all information.

This project successfully funded on 22nd October 2023