ALEX LUKAS
> 2023 - Now
Fanzines and Pamphlets University of California at Santa Barbara CONTACT FOLLOW
Tree Stones, 2020-2023
Initially a late Victorian aristocratic fad, headstones carved to resemble tree stumps proliferated in the early twentieth century as a death benefit for the Woodmen of the World fraternal order. While long out of fashion, these “imperishable botanicals” can be found today sprouting in the Jewish graveyards of Indianapolis, lonely burial grounds in rural New Mexico, and historic garden cemeteries in New England. They are decidedly odd and beautiful objects.
Here, miniature tchotchke versions of these “Tree Stones” flash a new municipal language of warning and distress. Broadcasting headlines, stump speeches, and the now-familiar mantras like “STAY HOME/STAY SAFE,” these new memorials are updatable remnants and cautionary souvenirs.
Made while in residence at the John Michael Kohler Art Center's Arts/Industry program, Sheboygan, WI
Tree Stone, 2019, couples academic research, period advertisements and Facebook posts about tree-shaped headstones
with photographs of these “imperishable botanicals”
> 2023 - Now
Fanzines and Pamphlets University of California at Santa Barbara CONTACT FOLLOW All content (C) Alex Lukas, 2011 - 2026
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