On view 24/7 outside our gates at the end of Glissman Road 5419 Glissman Road, Austin, TX 78702
"The mural depicts approximately 903 human skulls, neatly arranged and interspersed with femurs. The image refers to ossuaries such as the Capuchin Crypt in Rome and the catacombs of Paris, where human remains were carefully exhumed, collected, and arranged in artful patterns.
This work is a memento mori, of course, but also an invitation to reflect on the manifold global catastrophes we are currently facing - the concentration camps being built in the US, the genocide in Palestine, the threat of mass casualties from climate change. The Paris catacombs were built because the cemeteries were overflowing; likewise our collective heart is overflowing with fear and anxiety and helplessness in the face of these horrors.
The mural was constructed using printmaking techniques - a collection of 20-30 handmade rubber stamps were used to impress the skull images. This process recapitulates the process of building ossuaries like the Capuchin Crypt - starting at the bottom and carefully stacking the impressions into an orderly arrangement, just as the friars carefully stacked the skulls of their brothers in the crypt. This iterative process connected me with the builders of those historical ossuaries and also gave me a spurious feeling of doing something useful. Like most people, I have no idea what to do about the horrible things happening in the world, but if I just stack these skulls neatly maybe I will feel some relief, bringing some kind of order to the mad chaos of death swirling around us." - Sam Sanford
