Reconcilio, 20XX.
In a lecture (1961), Heidegger was asked how we might recover our authenticity; he replied that we should simply aim to 'spend more time in graveyards.'
There are two main pillars of the project. The first would be the physical and psychological implications of a strong experience with the concept of death, as proof exists that these can reframe how we perceive reality. Psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan spoke of the effects of these experiences on people through the idea of The Real. He said that it was not the act as such, but rather its impact on our psyche. To experience 'awe' has almost the same effect: Being at the top of a mountain or at night while gazing upon the millions of stars through the sky; a change in our perspective in relation to our agency in nature.
The second one is that, through an analysis of language, there's evidence of cultural-linguistic baggage, which gives a negative connotation to everything related to the concept of death. This way of thinking is something that we have been dragging since the Cartesian thought, reasoning through binary opposites: Thinking that one word is worth more than another. In this case, we deprive ourselves of a broader reflection of being by denying the natural relationship of death and life, as, in the end, one exists because of the other.
The project consists of a single or multiple sculptures: Stylized gravestones with a mirror coating. Presented as a monument and an emulation of the cemetery's aesthetic environment.
68cm x 96cm x 20cm