Progress on A Response to Decoration Day

All six invites for A Response To Decoration Day have been hand delivered to their recipients. Images have been posted of the invite and handwritten note to my official website.

Much more work remains before the performance takes place in May. Look for image updates on this blog as the menu develops, the picnic setting unfolds, and the fresh white roses are ordered.

A Response To Decoration Day: the handwritten invite

The first of six invites for A Response To Decoration Day has been received. With five more to go out in the next week, look for images to be uploaded to my official website in the coming days.

However, here is a sneak peak of one of the handwritten notes included in the invites. Each invite also contains fresh bread/ pastry and fresh white rose petals.

Image: Nicholas Fenell, 2012.

Progress on A Response To Decoration Day

In May 2012, a performance with invitation only is scheduled for Orange Cemetery in Pepper Pike, Ohio. The work is a favorable response to research and study of the traditional Decoration Day in Southern Appalachia.

Since the invitation for guests is one of the main physical components, it must be more than an invite. The invitation is a sculpture in its own right, appealing to its recipient for its taste, smell, and warmth.

The standard bakery shop cake box will serve as the vessel for the invitation. Inside, the box will have fresh white rose petals, homemade bread, and text with all the information for the recipient. Each invite will be hand delivered to its recipient.

New Year, New Works

On the Other Side, a permanent outdoor installation at the East Cleveland Township Cemetery, has been approved. The work will examine the line separating the roads of life and death, in this case marked by a fence. Scheduled to be finished by fall 2012, look for posts on progress of project in future weeks and months.

A Response to Decoration Day is a performance by invitation only to happen in May this year. Look for photos and updates on both this blog and official website.

Projects in Proposal

Holiday wishes to all and warmth this season.

Two proposals have been reviewed by the East Cleveland Township Cemetery and I eagerly await the verdict.

A third proposal for a fundraising benefit and collaboration with fellow artist is nearing completion. This proposal shall be completed and sent out for review in January 2012

New Work on Website

Click here to visit my formal website and see new works added to a series of photographs, A Window Into Two Worlds.

Reflections: Animal Kingdom Pet Cemetery

Animal Kingdom Pet Cemetery, 2011. Image: Nicholas Fenell

In effort to understand the cemetery and its function to the fullest, I have spent the year visiting cemeteries across the north eastern Ohio region. Recently, I visited a pet cemetery (Animal Kingdom Pet Cemetery) in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. It was very interesting to see the differences in objects left in memory of the deceased. Many graves are very well attended, with plenty of flowers, statuaries, and personal notes/ mementos. The graves date back to 1946, with plenty of land for expansion. Some families buried their pets in a style similar to the family plot with a headstone bearing the last name and markers for each pet/ family member around the family headstone. The variety of pets was far reaching including dog, cat, rabbit, and horse. No matter the species, each marker paid enormous respect to the deceased.

Animal Kingdom Pet Cemetery, 2011. Image: Nicholas Fenell