Mortal: a good death - screening and discussion

We’ll begin with a screening of three experimental animated films, by artists Ben Faircloth, Mariana Leal, and Eilidh Nicoll, that explore our relationship with death, taking inspiration from the Death Positive Movement, commissioned for Animate’s Mortal project.

Followed by a conversation exploring how death and dying can be rethought and approached, how end of life care and how funerary practices are being reframed, with speakers, Dr Glenys Caswell, a social researcher, funeral director Beccy Edgar, willow coffin weaver Abi Griffin. Hosted by Gary Thomas, Director, Animate Projects.

Speakers

Dr Glenys Caswell

Dr Glenys Caswell is an independent social researcher and death studies scholar. Since she began her postgraduate studies in 2006, her focus has been researching and writing on different aspects of dying and death. She is currently interested in how, as a society, we manage dying and death. Dr Caswell completed a degree in sociology and social policy at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh in 2005. Between 2006 and 2009 she studied at the University of Aberdeen, completing a Master’s in social research in 2006 and a PhD in sociology in 2009.

www.glenyscaswell.com

Beccy EdgarBeccy is funeral director and co-founder and director of Matlock based Grave Expectations, taking a new approach to funeral care, “giving families the most thoughtful, meaningful ways of saying goodbye”. Having worked in the funeral industry for many years, it was in her years working at a woodland burial ground that she forged a deep passion for sustainable and holistic funeral practices.

https://graveexpectations.co.uk/

Abi GriffinAbi started work in the funeral sector at 21 when she became a gravedigger working at a natural burial ground. Based in Sheffield, she weaves willow coffins that serve families seeking meaningful, sustainable alternatives to conventional options. She also runs coffin weaving courses, which she sees as a special ritual that forms meaning in the growing greening of funeral practices in the UK.

https://www.wovenfarewell.co.uk/

About Mortal

Taking inspiration from the Death Positive Movement, Animate commissioned early career artists Ben Faircloth, Mariana Leal, and Eilidh Nicoll to produce new films inspired by this theme. Their films reflect on how we might muse on death anxiety, voice personal grief communally, and queer funerary practice. These rich, mixed media animations include paper collage, stop motion, and painted animation.

Each artist undertook a period of research and development, engaging broadly with the subject and taking inspiration from conversations with social anthropologist Dr Hannah Rumble.

The films and artists

Ignoring the terrible hum, Ben Faircloth

Ignoring the terrible hum examines attitudes surrounding mortality in the setting of a rural Welsh town. Partly inspired by the writing of American anthropologist Ernest Becker, the film weighs the benefits and plausibility of genuine self-knowledge concerning mortality against my own, natural cynicism and apprehension about the subject.

Ben is a painter, animator and illustrator based in Wales. His work explores absurdity, isolation and anxiety, whilst being rooted in the immediate community and accompanying social issues. He graduated with an MA in Fine Art from Aberystwyth School of Art in 2021 and has exhibited extensively in Wales and Sweden, and directs and animates music videos and animated segments for television and film.

Steeping, Eilidh Nicoll

Death Cafes offer a place for strangers to gather and discuss all things mortality. Animated in tea and coffee, Steeping explores the ceremony of the cafe, inviting us to ponder our attitudes towards death and dying and reflect on how a conversation over a cup of something might make broaching the subject a little less terrifying.

Eilidh is a Scottish animator based in London, and her work often has an emphasis on process and exploring personal experiences. She graduated with a BA Animation from Edinburgh College of Art in 2021. Her graduation film, Silvering, won the inaugural Young Scottish Filmmaker Prize and screened at over 40 festivals. She has since worked as an animator for stage, film and television, and information films and music videos.

Making it Fit, Mariana Leal

A short documentary film about how the LGBTQIA+ community has been reinventing funerary and remembrance rituals to better support and reflect the way people live in community, and sharing some of the ways in which the members of the Queer community have been instinctively reinventing their grieving and celebration ceremonies for their late loved ones.

Mariana is a Portuguese animator based in London. Her work explores inner worlds and lived experiences through animated materials. She studied animation at the University of the Arts London and has an MA in Film Studies from King’s College London in 2022. She has been working in short form documentary and fictional animation, and compositing for long form film and television.

About Animate Projects

Animate is a Derby based agency with a mission to support artists to experiment, collaborate and produce bold animation projects, and to be a catalyst for connection.

Animate’s productions include the Oscar shortlisted and SXSW winning The Debutante by Elizabeth Hobbs and Maryam Mohajer’s And Granny Would Dance, which screened at the London Film Festival and many more, winning Best of Festival and Best Animation at Aesthetica Film Festival, Best British Animation at Manchester Animation Festival, and the Best of British prize at the London International Animation Film Festival. Other recent projects include PLANTING – three animated films exploring three Derby ‘gardens’, and the current WORK Records – with three artists making films exploring historic working lives inspired by three East Midlands archives.

www.animateprojects.org

About Artcore

Artcore encompasses an art gallery, artistic studios, a shop, and a café. The gallery presents exhibitions of work by local and international artists, and runs a residency and exchange programme with UK and international artists, and an extensive and inclusive programme of workshops. A lively community hub, Artcore is dedicated to supporting and collaborating with local communities, and is a welcoming space for everyone, nurturing creativity and connection within a diverse range of individuals.

Artcore is passionate about the power of creativity and art’s potential to enrich lives.

https://artcoreuk.com/

Admission is free.Booking essential.Refreshments provided.