| Synopsis: |
"Grave Matters" is a haunting work in which Taylor's ghosts become our own. The photographs of the graves of American and European artists, architects, writers, philosophers and musicians who shaped modern culture are both beautiful and disturbing, and make us look with fresh eyes at the history of modernism and its place within postmodern culture. The text raises questions that cannot easily be answered: what has become of the modern greats? Are their bodies really where they are supposed to be? Who decided where they would be buried? Who wrote their epitaphs? What do their deaths and their graves tell us about their lives and suggest about our own? In his essay "Ghost Stories", Taylor weaves together personal narrative, historical analysis, cultural commentary and philosophical reflection to prompt these and other questions for an age obsessed with youth, longivity and immortality. At a time when genetic engineering and artifical life are becoming everyday realities, graves matter more than ever, because life cannot be affirmed without embracing death. The words and images of "Grave Matters" inscribe the inevitable future that we all face and yet struggle to avoid. |