The Flying Houseof Good Death

about

“The Flying House of Good Death” project refers directly to the contemporary crisis of death in Western culture. The increasing life expectancy (at the beginning of the twentieth century the average human lifespan was 48 years, now the average life expectancy is 71 years), the medicalization of death (changing the circumstances of dying from home to hospital, from the company of family to medical staff), the cult of the body (young, pretty, and powerful), the rejection of mourning, the transformation of funeral rites, the image of death in the mass media – it all adds up to the taboo of death. “The Flying House of Good Death” is a project where an attempt is made to define the good death and the circumstances of good dying in personal dimensions. Good death is something that we wish for ourselves and our loved ones.
The project started a few weeks before the Arteria Festival, when the printed invitations to attend and visit the Flying House of Good Death appeared in various places (reading rooms, cafes) in the city of Częstochowa. For several days, the house was located in one of the backyards in the old town. In abandoned business premises, I arranged a space to create a cozy, calm, warm place, emanating good atmosphere. Silence, delicate light, floral scent fostered a sense of intimacy in contact with stories. On the wall, there were ecological pots (fully degraded peat pots), in which paper cards were hidden. The paper cards included examples of funeral rituals, the manners of dying and dealing with the deceased over the ages and in various parts of the world. All texts were written in a simple, unjudgmental way to make them clear to every reader. Visitors were invited to read and share their own definitions of good dying.

photo: Marcin Szczygieł

Flying House of Good Death was a part of the Festiwal Sztuki Współczesnej w Przestrzeni Publicznej Arteria