Designer Plays with the Big Questions

The work of designer Sebastian Errazuriz addresses the big issues of life and death, sometimes with a whimsical and charming style, and sometimes with an elegance and simplicity, always posing powerful questions for the observer.

Death is the Only Certainty in Life 2009

Errazuriz sent a series of phrases related to awareness of life and death for approval by the Federal Aviation Administration for this project, which flew a plane over South Beach in Miami with the a banner expressing the phrase. According to the artist’s statement, the original phrase intended for the project was “We are all going to die,” but there was concern over the alarm this phrase might cause. “Death is the only certainty” was another option that was denied, until finally “Death is the only certainty in life” was approved.

Memorial of a Concentration Camp 2006

Because of the sport’s global popularity, rivalry on soccer fields throughout the world has often mirrored political rivalry, and the fields have often been the site for real political violence. For example, in 1973, shortly after seizing power of Chile through a military coup, Pinochet turned the National Stadium into a sort of concentration camp for his political enemies. For several months within the soccer stadium, prisoners were tortured and killed.

In 2006, in memorial to those who were imprisoned, tortured, and executed within the walls of the stadium, a magnolia tree was planted in the center of the stadium’s well-groomed field. For a week, the stadium was open to the public as a park, “offering a place to stop, look again, and remember.”

It was a simple and elegant way to address the history of this space, to give a chance for closure to those who may, indeed, still remember that horrible time, to honor and respect those who were lost. It was a chance to stop the activity of the stadium, which persisted after its use as a prison, to strip the space of the distractions of the sport, and to remind the people of its history, of the lives lost. Play resumed at the stadium after a week, closing the project.