Analysis of 4ft Lettering: Dying Matters 2014

After Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014, The Marie Curie Institute undertook an analysis of our display at The Walker Art Gallery. Members of the public were invited to ‘Write or draw what symbolises ‘Life’ and ‘Death’ to you on our Hollywood style lettering’. The aim of the analysis was to gain an insight into peoples’ perceptions of death (and life) in order to inform public engagement techniques to normalise the topic of ‘death’.

 

Here are some excerpts from the findings:

Background

Within the context of Western Society, advances in medical science have simultaneously reduced the incidence of childhood and early adult deaths and extended life expectancy. One result of such advances has therefore been to delay personal experiences of death and dying into midlife (House of Commons Health Committee, 2015). Further, since the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1948, an increasingly paternal, medicalisation of death and dying has resulted in more deaths now commonly occurring in a hospital setting, which has further removed ‘death’ and ‘dying’ from general society (House of Commons Health Committee, 2015; Mellor and Shilling, 1993).

 

The philosophical underpinnings of the meaning of 'life' and 'death' have been much debated over time. 'Meaning of life' seeks to understand the purpose of human existence within a broader metaphysical context over and above individual human contributions (Horne, 2013). Given the shift towards an individualistic focus this makes ‘meaning of life’ contemplations difficult in a traditionalist/religious vacuum. ‘Meaning in life’ on the other hand could be expressed in terms of subjective views that individuals' lives have purpose through the activities undertaken, which may provide pleasure and happiness (Wolf, 1982; Sigrist, 2015).

 

In May 2014, the National Museums Liverpool (NML) hosted an interactive, public exhibition, consisting of individual lettering, spelling ‘LIFE’ and ‘DEATH’. Members of the public were invited to write comments directly on to the lettering and these comments and illustrations were recorded verbatim and made available to the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool (MCPCIL) at the University of Liverpool to enable a form of qualitative Content Analysis of these public contributions to be undertaken.

 

The aim of this report is to provide a qualitative analysis of these contributions (written and illustration) in order to gain an insight into peoples’ perceptions of death (and life) with the purpose of informing future public engagement techniques to ‘normalise’ the topic of ‘death’. As previously discussed, it is envisaged that contributions will be more focused on ‘meaning in life’ than ‘meaning of life’. Further, those contributions to ‘what symbolises ‘life’’ will include but may not be limited to: purposefulness; happiness; self-actualisation; youthfulness; and health. Similarly, it is envisaged those contributions to ‘what symbolises ‘death’’ will include but may not be limited to: ambiguity; fear; frailty/old age.

Engaging the public

The Bucket Project representatives were present for an hour or more each day that the exhibition was active and they engaged in conversations with the public about the Bucket Project, Dying Matters and the lettering display. They gave a background to the project and inquired whether people would like to contribute. Other people also contributed to the display without personally talking to the representatives, though they may have taken leaflets/newsletters from the display stand.

The results of this content analysis concur with the hypothesis in that the written contributions largely related to ‘meaning in life’ over ‘meaning of life’ reflecting a priority of purpose for individuals over broader human existence perspectives. This focus on the ‘self’ was evident by the significant proportion of written contributions which reflected individuals’ names. Whilst these were reflected on both ‘life’ and ‘death’ lettering they were more frequently noted on the latter, which may support the individualistic ‘meaning in life’ perceptions in a reduced traditionalist/religious framework.

 

Similarly the frequency of the acronyms ‘YOLO’ (i.e. You Only Live Once) on both lettering and ‘YODO’ (i.e. You Only Die Once) on ‘death’ lettering could provide additional support for a shift of focus to ‘meaning in life’, prioritising ‘life’ over ‘death’. These acronyms are examples of the type of language adopted largely within more recent technological communication, and are arguably more synonymous with younger individuals.

A proposed youthful demographic of a proportion of the participants to this exhibition is also supported via the use of ‘emoji’ and ‘hashtag’ punctuation across both ‘life’ and ‘death’ lettering which again reflect more recent language style adopted largely within technological communications.
The hypothesis that written contributions to ‘life’ lettering would incorporate purposefulness, happiness, and self-actualisation comments is also supported by this data analysis. Those written contributions relating to ‘happiness’ were the most frequently reported category within this lettering. ‘Purposefulness’ and ‘self-actualisation’ were largely reflected within the category entitled, ‘purpose to life’. Examples include: ‘Be, all, you can possibly, be’; ‘Fullfill your life to the fullest’; ‘Life is all about people - you are who you spend time with’.  The remaining significant category within the ‘life’ lettering related to ‘Friends/Family’. Within the literature connectedness to others is subsumed within descriptions of potential purposeful activities that may provide happiness. Therefore this category provides additional support that the current focus is towards individualist ‘meaning in life’ perspectives incorporating purposefulness, happiness, and self-actualisation ideologies.

 

Contrary to our earlier hypothesis, however, neither ‘youthfulness’ nor ‘health’ were represented within the written contributions provided for the ‘life’ lettering. However, given that the demographic of the visitors to this exhibition may have included a significant proportion of young people this may explain why these categories did not feature, as the young are synonymous with ‘youthfulness’ and ‘health’, the mindfulness of which may only be encountered when these natural qualities start to ebb.
Whilst the category representing ‘unclassified’ written contributions was reflected within both the ‘life’ and ‘death’ lettering, it was significantly represented in the latter (i.e. 10% - 3 times greater representation within ‘death’ than ‘life’ lettering). Examples of these written contributions include: ‘Look out for drowning people! Lol’; ‘Pomegranete    Izzy’; ‘To enjoy your death... After all they have cookies! Eve S THS’. As these examples show, these comments are diverse and ambiguous in meaning. It could be argued that the greater frequency of this category of comments within the ‘death’ lettering reflects public ambiguity about death and dying, in line with aforementioned literature, and is therefore supportive of the hypothesis that ambiguity will be a feature within the written contributions reflecting perceptions about ‘death’.

Interestingly, however, the illustrations accompanying some of the written contributions followed more traditional categorisation, whereby ‘life’ was depicted by  ‘positivity’ (i.e. chick, happy face, smile, the sun) and ‘love’ (i.e. heart, kiss, people) whilst ‘death’ illustrations represented traditional death imagery (i.e. skull, bomb, flower, ghost), love (i.e. broken heart, heart, people) and sadness (i.e. sad face). Whilst imagery can promote universal messages and meaning, specific detail regarding such meaning can be compromised and limited by the artists’ abilities, which may explain the basic illustrations and their more traditional nature in relative comparison to the written contributions.

Conclusions

In support of the aforementioned literature, the analyses concur that the written contributions focused more so upon ‘meaning in life’ over ‘meaning of life’, suggestive of a reduced focus upon traditional/religious frameworks to support existential meaning. Further, those contributions to ‘what symbolises ‘life’’ included expected categories of: purposefulness; happiness; and self-actualisation. Similarly, those contributions to ‘what symbolises ‘death’’ included ‘ambiguity’. Contrary to our earlier hypothesis neither ‘fear’ nor ‘frailty/old age’ were representative categories within the contributions provided for the ‘death’ lettering. However, comments with more negative connotations were recorded within these contributions.

These results suggest support for the previously argued theory regarding the privatisation of death and dying and ensuing individualist perception and experience afforded death and dying. Future public engagement exercises should aim to reduce the ambiguity regarding death and dying and to find ways to initiate social discourse.

 

For more information on this analysis email amy.king@mariecurie.org.uk

A Successful Dying Matters Awareness Week!

Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014 was a fantastic success for The Bucket Project, with a number of events held across a wide range of venues. We met some very interesting and insightful people along the way who have been helping us to keep the topic of death alive. In case you didn’t get the chance to visit any of our events, here’s what happened during the week.

 

Monday 12th May

 

There were two launch events, at the Central Library and the Walker Art Gallery debuting our Remembrance Tree and ‘life’ and death’ interactive lettering, respectively. It was fantastic to see so many people contributing to our displays, building a better picture of what life and death means to the community in Liverpool. A number of school groups got involved and enjoyed writing and drawing on the 4ft lettering throughout the week, leaving some valuable interpretations.

 

Life and Death Letting @ The Walker Source: Author

 

Over four hundred people wrote touching messages to their departed loved ones and placed them on our Remembrance Tree. We made the tree out of recycled paper and packaging tape and printed a popular poem called ‘Dust if you must’ by Rose Milligan on the back of the leaves. We are currently discussing how the leaves will be displayed in the future. If you didn’t get a chance to leave your message to a loved one on our tree, don’t worry as we are planning on touring it around a number of popular venues in the near future.

 

Remembrance Tree @ Central Library Source: Author

 

Tuesday 13th May

 

On the second day of Dying Matters, we held a ‘Dead Write’ workshop at Central Library, where we discussed a wide range of topics and assessed how death, dying and loss is incorporated in works of poetry and ways you can approach this subject yourself. We were working in partnership with The Windows Project who facilitated this session. There was a small turnout for this particular event; however the discussion was fantastic, with members reading their own excerpts of poetry to the group and suggesting ideas for future work.

 

The ‘Death in Art’ tour took place at the Walker Art Gallery in the afternoon with many people extremely excited to learn about pieces of art on display that had themes of or were inspired by death. This tour then finished at our interactive lettering display, sparking discussion about life and death and the role that art can play in the formation of our interpretations.

 

Death in Art Tour @ The Walker Source: Author

 

In the evening, we rounded off Day 2 with an exclusive tour of the Science Fiction: New Death exhibition at FACT. This intriguing display dealt with themes of death in the future and was closely linked to the development of technology. This exhibition is open to the public until the 22nd of June 2014.

 

Wednesday 14th May

 

For Day 3, we held another ‘Dead Write’ session at the Central Library. We also met some interesting people at our information stands throughout the different venues, where our promotional pens were a hit, alongside our specially designed day of the dead coffin bookmarks. It was wonderful to see so many people filling in our chalk wall inspired cards, which asked ‘Before I die I want to…’ and 'In my life I want to...', producing some interesting results! From travelling the world, to finding the one, everyone has their own goals and dreams.

 

Thursday 15th May

 

Day 4 of Dying Matters Week and a busy one at that! We held another Death in Art tour followed by our very first Life and Death Café at the Walker, discussing elements of life and death whilst eating nourishing food and drinking delicious tea and coffee. It is always an enlightening experience, discussing such an important topic with like-minded strangers. You never leave without having learned something new about the world and how different people perceive death.

 

People enjoying the Death in Art Tour @ The Walker Source: Author

 

Friday 16th May

 

One of my favourite events was the Vintage Tea Party we arranged to inform people about what is happening in their local Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool. This event was a huge success with staff, patients, volunteers and visitors enjoying our homemade cakes and free refreshments. People who don’t often come in to contact on a daily basis had a chance to get to know each other and the roles each of them play in the hospice. It was refreshing to hear patients talk about how they appreciated many different services the hospice provides, such as complementary therapy. This conversation gave us an insight in to the still prevalent issue that people do not know what services are available to them until they are in a vulnerable position. We believe that it is an essential part of the project to not only break down the taboo around talking about death, but to inform people in the community of what care and end of life care options are available to them, even if they are not necessary at the present time.

 

Some of our delicious homemade cakes at the Vintage Tea Party @ Marie Curie Hospice,
Woolton Source: Author

 

We continued serving homemade cake throughout the evening at our Life and Death Café at Siren, 54 St James Street, to celebrate Light Night. Not only was the venue beautiful but we met sixteen amazing people, from a diverse range of backgrounds who came together to discuss the topics of life and death. So many subjects were discussed, from archaeology and complementary medicine, to the symbolism of colours and the feelings they provoke inside us.

 

Our fantastic Life and Death Café discussion group @ Siren Source: Author

 

Saturday 17th May

 

It was an early start for the penultimate day of Dying Matters Awareness Week in The Garden at Fact by Leaf. We hosted a ‘Dead Good Cookie Decorating’ session for children and parents. We had some superbly decorated day of the dead- style cookies that tasted just as good as they looked! Have a peek at the pictures below to see some of the weird and wonderful designs!

 

A creatively decorated cookie
Source: Author

Decoration in action! In The Garden @ FACT by LEAF
Source: Author

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then strolled over to the World Museum where two ‘Meet the Mummy’ sessions were taking place. These were unique performances specially opened to the public for this occasion, providing an insight in to the ancient world of Egyptian practices of mummification with the children taking centre stage, playing the roles of embalmer, high priest and Anubis.

 

Sunday 18th May

 

What could be better than a celebration for the final day of an amazingly successful Dying Matters Awareness Week? In partnership with the Treasure House Theatre at the World Museum, we put on a ‘Day of the Dead Drop-In’ where nearly seventy people attended to make masks and put a wish on the Mexican Wishing Tree whilst listening to Dia de los Muertos music.

 

Day of the Dead Drop-In celebration @ The World Museum Source: Author

 

All in all, this week was a fantastic success, with our events reaching roughly 700 people directly and potentially reaching in the region of 380,000 through our very own Rachael McKindley being featured on the BBC Merseyside Drivetime show throughout the week! Taking in to consideration visitor numbers to each venue, we estimate to have reached over 400,000 people with this years Dying Matters theme 'You Only Die Once'. We are extremely grateful to our many partners who made the events possible and thank our members and the public who continually support the project and help keep the topic of death alive.

 

Why not become a member? Email us at amy.king@mariecurie.org.uk and be the first to find out about our upcoming events! You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Day 4: Dying Matters Awareness Week

It is now Day 4 of Dying Matters Awareness Week and we still have a number of exciting events happening across Liverpool! Here are the events for today:

 

 

The Death in Art tour was well received on Tuesday and is extremely interesting. So don’t worry if you missed out on that, come along to the session today from 1-2pm.

 

Our very own Life and Death Café will be taking place from 2:30-4pm. The layout is very similar to a 'Death Cafe', however The Bucket Project are working in partnership with Cheshire Living Well Dying Well to host the event, which encompasses the life element. This is a safe and comfortable environment for people to discuss life and death, whilst enjoying free tea, coffee and cake. You do not need to book for this event so come along and join in, you might just be pleasantly surprised!

 

Don’t forget, the interactive lettering, postcards and Remembrance Tree are available all week in the Walker and Central Library, respectively.

 

For more information, email amy.king@mariecurie.org.uk.

Day 2: Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014

The launch of our Dying Matters Awareness Week events went off with a bang! The Remembrance Tree at Central Library is already blooming with special leaves left in memory of loved ones and the pristine white ‘Life and Death’ lettering at The Walker has had its first splashes of colour. Take a look at the pictures below:

Life and Death Lettering @ The Walker

Remembrance Tree @ Central Library

Don’t forget, these installations are here from the 12th-18th May so you can still write your message on the tree and leave your mark on our community art piece if you haven't already. Let’s take a look what else we have in store for you today!

There is a ‘Dead Write’ workshop from 11-1pm @ Central Library, followed by a ‘Death in Art’ Tour @ The Walker from 1-2pm. We will be rounding off this busy day with an exclusive tour of the Science Fiction: New Death Tour @ FACT between 5 and 6pm.

If you would like any further information, please feel free to contact us at amy.king@mariecurie.org.uk or download your programme of  events from here.

Programme of Events - Dying Matters 2014

The Bucket Project would like to officially present our Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014 programme of events!

Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014 is taking place from the 12th-18th May and this year’s theme is You Only Die Once or #YODO for short. We have prepared a number of exciting, free and fun events in a range of venues across Liverpool so make sure you check out the timetable below to find out dates and times.

 

 Here is an overview of what’s going on in the week:

Walker Art Gallery:
Have you ever wanted to help create a work of art? We want you to show us what symbolises Life and Death for you and to write or draw your interpretation of these words on our Hollywood-style lettering. You can also join us for a Life & Death Café or guided Death in Art tours. Events at the Walker Art Gallery are organised by The Bucket Project in partnership with Cheshire Living Well Dying Well.

 

World Museum:
Are you brave enough to Meet the Mummy and discover the secrets of Ancient Egyptian embalming? How about joining in with a Day of the Dead dance or placing a wish on the wishing tree? We have three Meet the Mummy sessions on 17th May and a Day of the Dead Drop-In on 18th May. Our information stand will be available throughout the week where you will be able to pick up a free Day of the Dead inspired coffin bookmark. All events are family friendly and completely free.

 

Central Library:
Writing is a way of seeing – the ordinary and the extraordinary, from your own street to the landscape of your dreams. Everyone has a voice that is valuable and unique. We are hosting two specially themed writing advice sessions called "Dead Write" in partnership with the Windows Project. You can also take a leaf out of our book and leave a message on our Remembrance Tree or pick up a free Day of the Dead inspired coffin bookmark.

 

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology):
Join us for a one-off guided tour of the current exhibition – Science Fiction: New Death, which runs until 22nd June 2014. Explore how our relationship with technology has blurred the lines between the real and the virtual with thought-provoking installations from a number of artists. The exhibition is presented as a deconstructed film set, with the curator acting as director and the artists as actors. Our tour takes place on 13th May from 5-6pm. Please book your place to avoid disappointment.

 

The Garden at FACT by LEAF:
Bring the family and join us for a fun morning where we will have specially prepared Ginger-Dead men and Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skull cookies ready for you to decorate with colourful icing and tasty toppings. We can even wrap your cookies for you to take as a gift, if you can't resist eating them first! Great food and great conversation, what else are you doing on a Saturday morning?

 

Siren @ 54 St James Street: LIGHT NIGHT
Do something different on a Friday night and celebrate Liverpool's one night art and culture festival; Liverpool Light Night where many venues across the city stay open late. We’re hosting a Life & Death Café, which comes under the Words & Debate section of the Light Night programme. The aim of this special cafe is to break down the barriers to discussing death, dying and loss in a comfortable, relaxing environment whilst eating sustaining and nourishing food in the company of like-minded people.

 

Marie Curie Hospice Liverpool:
Join The Bucket Project for a Vintage Tea Party at the Marie Curie Hospice Liverpool and find out more about our range of services whilst enjoying delicious sandwiches, tea and cake. It will be held in the gorgeous vintage setting of our beautiful conservatory, where the atmosphere will be comfortable and relaxing, with the added bonus of good food and excellent conversation. We hope you can join us for an inspiring afternoon.

 

You can download the full programme from the downloads page, alongside all of our promotional event posters.

 

For more information feel free to contact us at amy.king@mariecurie.org.uk

Dying Matters Awareness Week 2014

Image from dyingmatters.org

 

Dying Matters Awareness Week is fast approaching, taking place from the 12th – 18th May. We are hosting a number of exciting events throughout the week, in partnership with the World Museum, Walker Art Gallery, Central Library, FACT and Siren to name a few. We will be releasing the details shortly but make sure you follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to get the latest updates!

There are a number of family events taking place on the weekend of the 17th and 18th of May from Meet the Mummy! at the World Museum to cookie decorating at The Garden in LEAF @ FACT. All of our events are free and promise to be engaging and a lot of fun.

 

Image from sweetsugarbelle.com

 

Check back here soon for the dates and times of our events! If you would like to get involved or want to know more about The Bucket Project or Dying Matters, please contact us at amy.king@mariecurie.org.uk.

Are you doing anything for Dying Matters Awareness Week? Let us know here #YODO

ALIVE: In The Face of Death

Image © Rankin, with thanks to Walker Art Gallery

"Death; we can deny it and medicine can delay it, but it is life's only certainty. Despite this, it remains the ultimate taboo in British society today"

Yesterday, to celebrate the fact that our birthdays at the Bucket Project fall within days of each other, we took an educational trip to the Walker Art Gallery to have a look at their new exhibition.

ALIVE: In The Face of Death by photographer Rankin is a collection of photographs of people who have been touched by death in one way or another. You might associate Rankin with his photographs of people like Kate Moss, The Queen and Madonna, but this exhibition stems from a personal connection with death that Rankin felt after losing both of his parents. He wanted to confront the fears he had around death. The first thing that hit us when we walked in was how personal and intimate every photograph felt, so far removed from the images of celebrities usually associated with his work.

The contrast of the people featured is stark, ranging from those who are faced with terminal diagnoses to those who have survived tragedies like the London bombings of July 2007, and people who work within the death industry. We particularly loved this image of local lads Sam and Dan Lloyd, who both have muscle wasting disease Duchene muscular dystrophy. They have a life expectancy of around 25, but at 17 they exude such a love for life and passion we couldn't help but feel really inspired by them. Even Rachael, the Blue half of The Bucket Project, felt like she could get on board with their football passion despite it being for Liverpool FC!

Image © Rankin, with thanks to Walker Art Gallery

We loved the photographs of Rankin with his face painted like Mexican Day of the Dead masks, all in bright colours and beautiful designs. It evoked the ideas of death being a celebration and not something to fear, of it being a gateway to something else entirely that could be brightly coloured and beautiful; a far cry from the monochrome funereal images we often see when thinking of the ways we remember the dead.

Image © Rankin, from Liverpool Echo

There were two particularly interesting parts of the exhibition that made us think. On one wall is a collection of "life masks" - masks of living celebrities cast in the style of ancient Egyptian death masks. It was haunting to see imagery usually associated with the dead juxtaposed with people who are very much alive, including contemporary celebrities such as Joanna Lumley and Abbey Clancy. On the opposite wall is a collection of portraits of people working in the "death industry" such as a grave digger, a palliative care consultant and most interestingly a group of Ghanian professional mourners. We didn't even know that professional mourners existed, and it was eye opening to learn about the funeral traditions of other cultures.

The exhibition is breathtakingly powerful. The way Rankin presented his subjects in ways that were personal to their own battles was evident in each portrait. 23 year old Fran wanted to be photographed with butterflies because "They move so effortlessly and so gracefully…they’re the opposite of me. They’re free, whereas I’m not", and Sandra Barber wanted to portray her inner warrior to show the strength she had drawn from to fight breast cancer. Every single photograph has a detailed story beneath it, and it's impossible not to feel incredibly humbled and inspired by the outlooks these people have developed to cope with the enormity of being touched by death.

Outside the exhibition is a wall covered in brightly coloured Post It notes from visitors, sharing their views on the exhibition. It was fantastic for us to see people talking about death so openly, especially the people who wrote that it had made them think or talk about death for the very first time.

Me (Lucy) writing on the response wall

We definitely recommend that you catch this exhibition before it finishes in September. If we were to sum up the entire essence of our project in one room, this exhibition would most definitely be it. Seeing death personified in the faces of people who have come close to it and even lost their fear of it was certainly an empowering experience.

If you do end up going to see it, be sure to let us know what you thought.

ALIVE is at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool until 15 September 2013.
#AliveXRankin