Patipat Chaiwitesh
Abstract :
When we mention the word “Cemetery,” many may feel a sense of gloom before even seeing the tombstones planted in the ground above lifeless bodies and the pervasive silence following us at every step as we cross the cemetery gates. This place is not only for burying the dead but also a journal for the memories of multiple generations, woven together from one to another, eventually converging in the same place.
At Père-Lachaise Cemetery, it have captured impressions of this place, documenting a journey of memories that inspired the lives of those who remain. By analyzing lines, colors, and shapes reflecting the context, architecture, and changing times of this unique and renowned Parisian cemetery, he found that many graves were family graves. When any family members passed away, they were buried here, leading to the architecture of these graves as if they were houses. Another remarkable and impressive aspect of this cemetery is its old age and the classical patterns blending Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Gothic, and Neo-Classical styles. The size or partitioning of the graves reflects each family’s wealth, including European church-like sculptures decorated around the graves and house-like doors for the buried. Numerous famous and high-status person in the history were buried here, such as the great composer Chopin, famous novelist Oscar Wilde, renowned romantic painter Delacroix, and even Jim Morrison, the legendary lead singer of ‘The Doors’.
Objectives :
This journal of memory into a visual language, reinterpreting and synthesizing it into new forms in contemporary patterns. Subsequently, they were expressed through hand-weaving techniques, resulting in hanging tapestries, a form of textile art with a very long history.
Conceptual Framework :
This research want to express about death because these graves don’t just bury one person. They are like family halls. When someone dies, they come to rest here, and their descendants will meet here. I want to talk about the journey, which is both the beginning and the end in the same place, even though we call it a cemetery.
Process / Methodology :
Techniques and Materials :
Result / Conclusion :
This research is simply a presentation of a way to communicate through shapes found in everyday life and bring them into a new context in the presentation to communicate with viewers from different backgrounds, resulting in different understandings and new knowledge from one’s own imagination.
References :
- Yves Delaporte, Les chats du Père-Lachaise (Contribution à l’ethnozoologie urbaine 1998), p. 37-50
-
Richard A. Etlin, Père Lachaise and the garden cemetery (The Journal of Garden History 2012)
