Loss becomes Object

This exhibition marked the birth of the The Museum of Loss and Renewal project, which developed out of LIFE IS OVER if you want it!, an installation by Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen that stemmed from considerations about end of life issues after the death of Edwin Janssen’s father through assisted suicide.

Loss Becomes Object took place at The Highland Institute for Contemporary Art, Loch Ruthven, Scotland (2011) and consisted of two cardboard display cases, Life is Short, Art Long and Forces of Attraction and Repulsion. Artefacts collected in the Highland Hospice charity shops were juxtaposed with associative material, resulting in a series of still lifes that provoked reflections on issues of loss, death, recycling and the notion of appropriation.

The text in the poster Loss becomes Object, if you want it! set the framework for the exhibition, and Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen’s use of slogans in The John and Yoko Drawings.

Loss Becomes Object was launched with a public discussion. Contributors included Paula McCormack, Director of Clinical and Education Services at the Highland Hospice who talked about the organisation’s work; Emma Nicolson, Director of ATLAS, presented context-specific art practice; Tracy Mackenna & Edwin Janssen discussed The Museum of Loss and Renewal’s central themes.