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Mourning mantras
New York – A new installation by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and artist Taryn Simon examines the mourning process.
- An Occupation of Loss is a performance piece that plays out inside 11 specially constructed concrete towers
- A series of ‘professional mourners’ perform mourning rituals from around the world
An Occupation of Loss by OMA and Taryn Simon, New York. Photography by Naho Kubota
An Occupation of Loss by OMA and Taryn Simon, New York. Photography by Naho Kubota
An Occupation of Loss by OMA and Taryn Simon, New York. Photography by Naho Kubota
An Occupation of Loss by OMA and Taryn Simon, New York. Photography by Naho Kubota
During the day, visitors are invited to fill the Drill Hall at the Park Avenue Armory with their own expressions of grief, while in the evening the space is taken over by 30 ‘professional mourners’, who perform a variety of laments from countries including Albania, Greece and Venezuela.
The exhibition examines the different rituals that people use to process loss and the line between authentic and staged displays of emotion.
‘The design was sonically motivated, focusing on the performative act of loss rather than its physical manifestation, which has historically been marked by multiple scales, from tombstones to the World Trade Center Memorial,’ says Shohei Shigematsu, partner at OMA.
The Big Picture
The creative industry is increasingly breaking with tradition and incorporating references to religious iconography that some may consider taboo. To find out more, read our Post-faith design direction.
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