Death as Art

Death as Art

Artists in different cultures and times have portrayed death in both symbolic and literal ways. 

a post card from Morbid Curiosity, the Richard Harris Death Collection

While writing The Muse, I researched the depiction of death in art and discovered this really insane artist that continues to push mega boundaries. His name is Gregor Schneider.

Why should you care about this dude?

Well for die-hard fans of The Muse, this guy is as close to a real-life HEX as you're going to find. For those who haven't read the novel, Hex is a huge part of the story and the main dark artist who takes the heroine on a very wicked ride through magic, death, and self-revelation.

I began reading up on Gregor Schneider due to all of these controversial articles he has in the press. The more I learned about him, the more the character Hex Castillo began to grown and start walking around in my head.

Here's some interesting and somewhat frightening exploits of Mr. Scheneider.




1. In 2000, he faked his death as part of an exhibition.

2. One of his famous art installations is a haunted house that people walk into called The Haus ur.

Visitors have reported having horrifying experiences while walking through the house.

The rooms' walls move in and out

The rooms also move around the house.

3. 21 Beach Cells
Scheneider took over Sydney's famous Bondi Beach and placed individual prison cells for sun bathers.

4. His recent art installation involves dark rooms that will blow fragrances into the air.

It consists of five silent rooms that a visitor walks through alone. The rooms are fairly plain - white, grey and metal walls. But the catch is that it's cold, pitch black, and there's no turning back. Each room is modified by tiny changes to get your imagination running and your heart racing. 

5. Creating a place in art museums for people to die.

Schneider stated in an interview that he wanted to create a space in a museum where people could die. His argument was that society's horror of death was so much that we prefer to ignore it, leaving people to die in the clinical impersonality of a hospital rather than somewhere beautiful.

Thanks so much for learning about one of my favorite artists and my muse for The Muse.