The last moment
The Last Moment is an installation project centered around the idea that death arrives without warning. This concept first came to me during a fall 2023 Creativity as Social Practice graduate class, where I invited people with various backgrounds, beliefs, religions, and different ideas about death, life, heaven, and hell, to spend a few moments in a handmade coffin. They looked at themselves in a mirror placed above the coffin to imagine what it would be like if that moment were the last second of their lives. This experience encouraged them to reflect on their past, ponder potential futures, and contemplate the brevity of life.
Participants will write about their experience or participate in a photoshoot while they are inside the coffin using their reflection in the mirror. They can draw or write the name of the friends and family member who they will miss when they are sleeping in the coffin.
This project, born from diverse perspectives and shared introspection, revealed the profound impact the idea of death has on us all, servings as a way in which we can come together, regardless of our differences, to confront the universal questions defining our human experience. Embracing their unique experiences, they began to think deeply about their own lives. What transpired was a powerful exploration of human existence and the ever-present uncertainty of our mortality. Death is an unavoidable and unpredictable part of human experience. The installation invites everyone to think about their current position and to think deeply about their past and future.