"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time." - David M. Eagleman
« The Third Death came from a personal place of regret, never getting to know my Opa before his passing in 2012. This series of photographic brooches is an attempt to extend his Third Death. His name is Oscar “Rene” Franz Ludwig Vey. From his childhood in Nurnberg during the Second World War, to his journey to Canada and his work in the metalworker’s union movement in London, Ontario. These fragments of his life are all that are left behind.
I etch these photos from paper onto steel, a material that unites us both (him as a caster and moulder, me growing up in the shadow of the steel mills of my hometown) and lasts much longer than the paper and acetate originals.
However, everything decays; the rust gives us a glimpse into that future. Entropy is a constant. Nothing lasts forever.»
