Ceremonies of Absence: Exploring Intangible Loss Through Visual Monuments
Yi Song
Grief and loss are universal experiences that profoundly shape our lives. Past experiences can establish emotional connections between different people’s memories. People often struggle to acknowledge and address intangible loss due to life change because we tend to think of loss in finite terms, mainly associated with death and dying. However, we overlooked how it can also involve adapting to major life shifts.
Ceremonies of Absence takes the form of large-scale installations composed of translucent film strips of varying lengths, which symbolize the measurement of time and carry text and symbolic images representing individual narratives of loss. The installation serves as a communal space for reflection and remembrance, inviting viewers to engage with varied experiences of loss.
Each strip seeks to visualize the myriad forms of loss we encounter throughout our lives, whether it be the loss of a relationship, identity, or opportunity. Through visualized text, imagery, and conceptualized time, this installation commemorates memories associated with both tangible and intangible losses people experience throughout life, thus providing individuals with a sense of connection.
In addition to the monuments, portable kits are distributed to enable individuals to create personalized commemorative devices, intertwining their own memories with broader narratives of collective loss.
Through these design interventions, the project aims to confront and reframe the discourse surrounding grief and loss by exploring their multifaceted nature and the importance of ritual.