Hope / Loss

The long form of the space made me want to do something linear; but I also wanted to respond to the broken and jumbled-ness of the gravestones that were being stored there. Also to the typography of the memorials.

The lead being heavy enough to hold the balloons just shy of the ceiling, but not so heavy that they cannot move from their initially linear placement so that the words become jumbled.

The balloons inflated with helium so initially they are floating but as time passes they fall, perhaps even burst

Thinking about people that are gone; the weight of loss, and the lightness / fleetingness of memories we have of them; the thin lines that connect (and break between) the two.

Initially made for a site specific installation in The Crypt Gallery, London. Subsequently shown as part of This Temporary Matter as part of the Bath Arts Fringe. There, instead of a paper strip, I used black, blue and orange gravel to demarcate the line.

In a similar way to the helium gradually dissipating and the balloons losing their height and position, the gravel line also got disrupted over time. and A visitor (ex-soldier) noted that it reminded him of the coloured gravel that was used to keep the weeds down around headstones which I thought was apt.

Photograph of the balloons captured in a mirror during her performance via @hannahmaryartist

Hope / Loss 
Helium filled balloons, nylon covered steel, lead type (Perpetua, 16pt – ‘I remember you’), paper, ink.

Thanks to Bob at St Bride’s Library.

“There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.” —David M. Eagleman