Ritual (burials and funeral by

Historical research

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:22:38 UTC

-> prothesis: private and familial, included washing of the body and included placing orales or brme in the mouth as payment for Chiron, their wrapped and adorned the body with wreaths, in their procession they would chant and sing laments which were similar to shrieks and wails.

-> ekphora: the public processions which included mourners.

-> internment; cremation which marked the entry into the world of the dead, libations were performed sometimes initiated by locks of hair (shown in the Iliad by Achilles) but included things like milk honey these sacrifices happen for at least 30 days after the death. A feast sometimes took place after which had the dead host and thank those that helped to bury them. The areas are cleansed with sea water and hyssop including the women that took part in ritual washing.

-> these burials are ideals and we have lots evidence of mass burial of plagues and during wars, in both the Iliad and the Aeneid one of the only times we see the two sides agree is when they express their need to bury the dead which takes multiple days even with quicker fungal rituals.

-> Liminal spaces are often present, when the bodies are not alive but not get accepted into the final condition, this is done through rite of aggregation and ritual done by the living in these liminal stages therefore intend to collapse this state as quickly as possible

Haida mortuary poles

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:26:17 UTC

used to honour and remember deceased high ranking Tribe members, their remains are (after one year) placed in the space at the top, some can be up to 60 feet and some are meant to slowly decompose so the body returns to the earth.

Decay

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:30:10 UTC

within this project i want to use imagery surrounding decay as it gives a clear look into life cycles and its reflection onto us as humans, the contrast between how we may view a tree decaying to a body doing exactly the same.

Nature/ geoglyph

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:33:58 UTC

Nature acting unusually can often feed into the human desire to anthropomorphise it, the complexity of nature can say to some a design or work of the mystical giving meaning to it in our minds.

Honouring through visual means

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:41:04 UTC

The idea that we often pour more money and grandeur into funerals and their practices is to usually because we want to show our love and appreciation of that person, it creates a strange clash between the sadness and disparity of death and beautiful things, making death appear as an ornate thing, a status symbol.

Mythology and the extensive senses of deities surrounding death rituals

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:46:06 UTC

we often try to justify mystery in the world through mythical and magical explorations throughout history and nowhere is this clearer than deities, the Egyptians alone have countless for the passage of a human soul into the underworld with the weighing of the soul having around 42 minor deities as well as major gods such as Osiris, Anubis, Thoth and Ammit.

Mould (Heikki Leis)

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:52:07 UTC

a photographer working on a photo book about moulds, named “afterlife” and “afterlife II” it aims to show the captivating and attractive nature of the often revolting mould.

Mystical and spiritual (Odilon Redon)

450863_2 — 2025-10-01 13:58:03 UTC

printmaker and painter working mostly in pastel and oil, his pieces have a magical and spiritual feel to them probably due to his interest in Hindu and Buddhist religion.

More Haida mythology

450863_2 — 2025-10-09 13:33:02 UTC

Ravens, the Haida credits the raven for making the world and helping mankind come together, by literally bringing them out of a shell. The raven always begins white in these stories and actually becomes black after discovering fire for both humanity and his new partner the gray eagles daughter whom he runs away with.

Scythes: death and agriculture

450863_2 — 2025-10-09 13:41:19 UTC

There is an unexpected link between farming and death, somtimes in an obvious way as the Scandinavian goddess of death can wilt and plague plants underfoot but also in a more ‘balance of life’ way as Morana the Slavic depiction is the goddess of death, rebirth and agriculture. She also switches at the end of winter Persephone style to Kostroma a springtime goddess.

Scythes are farming tool that have been linked to death through these associations. This makes farming a dark action and softens the intentions of death

Death and femininity

450863_2 — 2025-10-09 13:51:54 UTC

in countries that use Romance languages death is often portrayed as a woman because the word is ‘feminine’ for example ‘muerte’ for Hispanic countries. (This is the only reasoning i could find) sometimes this creates a duo of death as many cultures saw the feminity of death to be too soft for vengeful and violent deaths so they often give this queen of death a husband. We see this in Aztec mythology as the goddess of death, Mictecacihuatl handles the celebration and the peaceful elements while Mictlan handles the more hellish sides of the next life.

Death and feminity cont. Mictecacihuatl

450863_2 — 2025-10-09 14:11:53 UTC

the goddess of death in Aztec mythology and traditions has some really cool visuals related to her.

She is the contemporary figure for dia de los Muertos due to the Aztec synderesis with Spanish traditions, and the Santa Muerte cult, so has associations with bright colours, paper cut, marigolds and candles even if they do not nessesarily align with her traditional look it is now a valid part of her urban form.

She is often depicted defleshed (terrifying) laid down jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day often depicted as a strenuous activity that she is admired for. With a shirt made from serpents.

Another role she plays is collecting the Bones of the dead in order to create new races.

Music and funerals

450863_2 — 2025-10-12 10:01:54 UTC

music is a key part of many ancient rituals, with in the many European ones having chanting and singing during the mourning and both before and after the burial. In ‘The Iliad’ during Hectors funeral we see this: “the leaders of the lament began a song of mourning and they chanted it and it made the women lament “the leaders of the lament began a song of mourning and they chanted it and it made the women lament.”

Music that explores death; Johnny Flynn and Robert McFarlane.

450863_2 — 2025-10-12 10:13:01 UTC

The album ‘the moon also rises’ delves into themes of ‘songs of burial’, ‘going into the earth’ and ‘rebirth’ (as stated by the songwriters) It not only uses imagery of funeral procession; in the song ‘burial blessing’ the deceased tells the crowd to ‘sing and pray cry and sway’ but also reflects this in its formation as the song ‘sun also rises’ acts as a rebirth song and uses a chanting style with repetitive lines like the Celtic tradition during funerals

Art that centres around jazz

450863_2 — 2025-10-20 14:14:15 UTC

theres a pattern of artists that create around jazz to have, loud blaring colours, intresting proportions that lean on the side of surrealism and a mostly flat or lack of tone overall, very simplified shapes that don’t overly dwell on the details of the instruments.

Much of this style i think comes from how jazz is sold, the posters created needed to be easy to print and understand for everyone.

Nick Francis, texture and shape

450863_2 — 2025-10-20 14:19:05 UTC

This style has an intresting mix of sharp edges and softer lines that give the piece energy. The stronger textures of the instruments lends to this line style meaning that the layering isn’t overwhelming or maximalist. It still has that jazzy simplistic 2D style.

Paco Gimenez

450863_2 — 2025-10-20 14:29:43 UTC

The pairing back of the details for use of depth is a good way to show depth without relying on shadows. It emphasises the fun atmosphere of the music and makes the back and forground have their intresting spaces rather than just yada-yadaing over the rest of the space.

More notes on the jazz funerals

450863_2 — 2025-10-21 08:46:42 UTC

It is only held in New Orleans usually among the African American community and specially it tends to honour musicians.

It begins with a somber song for the family and mourning as they go towards the cemetery, as they move away the music picks up and begins to be more upbeat and allows not just the body to be cut loose from the living world but also the mourners to cut loose, dancing is encouraged and once interment is complete anyone can Join the parade

Sidney Bechet, the renowned New Orleans jazzman, once said, "Music here is as much a part of death as it is of life."

https://www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/music/history-and-traditions/jazz-funeral/#:~:text=A%20typical%20jazz%20funeral%20begins,Everybody%20dances.

Marching bands in New Orleans, (Joshua Kissi)

450863_2 — 2025-10-27 13:45:22 UTC

Photographer Joshua Kissi visited the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans and took an intrest in the grandiose of the marching band in particluar. “The showmanship behind every move and sound was astounding, its shocking to think that all these people were younger than 18” the undertone of marching soldiers in the civil war, ‘the band played alongside the tired footsteps of soldiers’ rather than the the soulful sound of a joyous and flamboyant parade. The way marching bands eventually evolved with the times, adopting jazz, blues, dance and hip-hop, It’s a melodic expression seen throughout Banded, highlighting the care and the power of the young musicians while, at the same time, paying respect to the history of the art form.

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/joshua-kissi-banded-photography-050320