A Funeral for a Funeral Home: An Incorruptible Relic, and an Architectural Death-Mask

A Funeral for a Funeral Home: An Incorruptible Relic, and an Architectural Death-Mask was commissioned to be part of Nuit Blanche East Danforth, which occurred overnight Saturday September 23 – 7pm – 7 am (https://eastendarts.ca/nbed2023/). The work was commissioned to activate the space around the now derelict Trull Funeral Home, and the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.

For the activation, a video eulogy (along with illustrative animations) was produced to acknowledge the history and significance of both of these institutions/structures as well as critique their demolition and "preservation" strategies that involve only retaining the façade of an original structure becoming, in essence, an architectural death mask.

For the Nuit Blanche event, the video was projected onto both the walls of the Trull Funeral Home and the St. Catherine of Siena church. Additionally, the video included custom music, composed by Dr. Owen Lyons (TMU, Image Arts), and a vintage hearse was rented and dramatically lite to add some additional ambience to the environment.