Category Archives: Soulful Expressions

As Time Goes By: Chinese Designers Zijina Li and Xueping Chen’s “43 Minutes With Grandma”

Designboom’s Design for Death competition features an interactive urn for cremated remains.

Chinese designers Zijina li and Xueping Chen want to redesign the way we look at urns and cremated remains. Their design, “43 Minutes With Grandma,” was featured by Designboom’s Design for Death competition last April and makes urns much more … Continue reading

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The Reversible Destiny Foundation: Architecture as an Extension of Life After Death

Japanese designer Shusaku Arakawa melds death and design in collaboration with Madeline Gins

Japanese designer Shusaku Arakawa (1936-2010) declared that he and his partner Madeline Gins would never die. The duo pushed the boundaries of design for over 40 years, melding philosophy with architecture in buildings like Bioscleave House until Arakawa’s death at … Continue reading

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Jonas Dahlberg to Design Norway’s July 22, 2011 Memorial Site

The Swedish designer plans “an active and poetic” memorial for victims of the 2011 Norway attacks.

  Today, the immediate grief and exhaustion following Norway’s tragic July 22, 2011 attacks have passed. But as Swedish designer Jonas Dahlberg says, this doesn’t mean “the wound” of the painful deaths has been forgotten. If anything, says Dahlberg, the … Continue reading

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“The Unity of Life and Death” by Otto Freundlich

Killed by the Germans in WWII, Jewish artist Freundlich left behind an oeuvre that transcends his unjust death

There’s a prevailing sense of warmth in Jewish artist Otto Freundlich’s The Unity of Life and Death (1936-38). Curved, colorful squares build on one another in the abstract oil painting, inspiring a sensation I can only compare to seeing holiday … Continue reading

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Life & Death Silhouetted: Designboom’s “Portrait Urn”

How Dutch designer Nadia Gonegaï fuses art and end of life

There’s an unforgettable message in the cremation urn of Dutch designer Nadia Gonegaï. Art can bring vitality to everything, including end of life. The designer’s “Portrait Urn” was featured by Designboom’s Design for Death competition (of which SevenPonds has been … Continue reading

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Messages from Beyond Death: “My Husband’s Things”

In the midst of grieving, widow Joans Marans Dim digs through her husband's past

The latest non-fiction essay by Joans Marans Dim, “My Husband’s Things”, is an intimate look into the grieving author’s struggle to accept the death of her husband, Stuart. Published in The New York Times last Wednesday, Dim’s essay chronicles the … Continue reading

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