Cremation Ashes and Art
Every so often a story comes along that stops you in your tracks. This one certainly did.
Artist David Maisel created a photographic exhibition based on thousands of corroding urns discovered at the Oregon State Hospital — each one containing the unclaimed ashes of former patients. Some dated back to the 19th century, others to the 1970s. They had simply… been forgotten.
It’s a powerful premise, but a challenging one too.
According to the article:
“Each canister is also photographed alone, giving the subjects the much overdue individual attention and recognition deserved to them from another.”
I’m not entirely convinced.
The Exhibition: “Library of Dust”
Maisel’s photographs are undeniably striking. The canisters have reacted chemically over decades, creating swirling colours and crystalline patterns — art meeting oxidation. The exhibition has been described as haunting, beautiful, even transcendent.
But while I don’t believe the artist is being unkind, I admit to feeling uneasy.
There is something about photographing the physical containers of forgotten individuals that edges close to the voyeuristic. Perhaps it’s because the people whose remains they contain had already suffered neglect and marginalisation in life. To have their ashes become an art object feels… conflicted.
That said, perhaps the intention is noble: to recognise the forgotten, to provoke reflection, to shine light on an uncomfortable history. And maybe, as some argue, this is a form of memorialisation in itself.
A Glimmer of Good?
The article does point to one positive outcome:
After the publicity, a relative came forward to claim the remains of Ada Winterburn, admitted in 1911 for “hysteria.” The family noted she was likely committed for being “inconvenient” rather than unwell.
This alone suggests the project did some good — giving at least one person a name and a family again.
But I’m not sure I share the writer’s conclusion that:
“The exhibit is a beautiful and haunting memorial… bringing humanity to the forgotten dead.”
Perhaps it does. Perhaps if I saw it in person I’d feel differently. There’s always a danger in criticising art without experiencing it. But for now, I remain torn.
A Broader Reflection
If there’s one thing this story underlines, it’s the importance of memorial dignity — whether through burial, scattering, keeping ashes, or creating something meaningful for the family.
At Scattering Ashes, we work hard to help families avoid this kind of anonymity. Whether that’s through:
personalised scatter ceremonies
or helping families arrange dignified scattering locations
— the aim is always the same: to ensure no one is forgotten, however simple or elaborate the memorial may be.
For me, that’s the heart of the matter.
This brings up an important question. Can death as spectacle ever be a good thing? Sometimes it’s only through the painful visuals of death that the abuses suffered in life can be seen. Many infamous cases come to mind.
The way I see it, these silenced patients, hidden away for so long, are finally getting their say. (And the problem persists – even today we shield our eyes from the mentally ill, either ignoring them on the street or warehousing them in jails or institutions.)
On an aesthetic note, I’m amazed at how the corrosive nature of the ashes on the canisters has created something quite gorgeous. I feel we are too phobic of seeing actual ashes – we tend to hide them away in quaint, cute or artistic vessels that almost seem ignorant of their cargo. The fact that these ashes have made their presence known here – in an almost painterly manner – is haunting and beautiful.
I think there is much merit in this. I always make a point of reading every name on a war memorial – it’s my own commemorative ritual. So I recognise a fellow spirit in Maisel (I hope that doesn’t sound pretentious). I don’t know that this is voyeuristic. I think it is peculiarly apt. To reflect on these images is to brood on many things – the individuality of the individual ‘lunatics’; the way we all end.
I hope, after this, the hospital will erect a memorial of some sort on which the names of all these human beings will be inscribed, and thereby restore some dignity and humanity to them.
That’s a really powerful photograph! Thanks a lot for this.