Visiting Relics #1 (from the series Death Urns)
Artist
Peter Olson
(American, born 1954)
Date2015
Mediumporcelain with original photographs
Dimensions15 1/2 × 15 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (39.4 × 39.4 × 14 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the Boeckman Acquisition Fund, 2019
Object number2019.5.1ab
DescriptionMulti-tiered vessel with cream-colored background that is decorated by numerous photographic images of skulls and bones. Lid is separate.Text Entries
This vessel is an unconventional combination of sculpture and photography, both created by the artist. Touching on the serious topic of human remains in public collections, where he made the photographs, the piece refers to a long tradition of urns as a repository for human remains as well as for storytelling.
The circular arrangement of the photographs evokes the motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge and the moving picture precursors such as the zoetrope or the kinetoscope.
The piece is strongly decorative and design oriented in a way that connects it with the traditions of ancient Greek Pottery. The subject matter suggests the canopic jars of ancient Egypt and even the vases and urns used for human remains today.
On View
Not on view
Dan Budnik
1975 (printed 1997)
