andrea tese photographs posthumous items of grandfather

andrea tese photographs posthumous items of grandfather
all images courtesy of andrea tese

exploring ideas of legacy, identity, and impermanence, ‘inheritance’ by american artist andrea tese is a personal documentation of the artist’s mourning process following the passing of her grandfather. photographs of schematically arranged clothing, bottles, appliances – relatable objects, which serve as the basic accessories of daily life, help to form a visual inventory of one man’s possessions. the pictorial compositions authors a chronicle of a life as expressed by the simple pieces, ranging from a collection of paperweights or newspaper clippings including those about tese herself as a child, to pedestrian items such as shoes or pots and pans. 

fishing gear

despite the potential sentimentality of the project for the artist, tese’s photographs are abstracted by her deadpan treatment of the subject matter, organizing the items into grids, piles and sometimes playful situations that allow them to be assessed individually as well as en masse by the audience. when viewed together, the images form a posthumous portrait of the deceased, allowing a personal insight into the owner’s daily life. the photographs seek to function simultaneously as an acknowledgement to the ephemeral nature of life and as an indulgence in man’s unwillingness to give in to this understanding – the desire to arrest time, to counter anonymity, to leave something behind, to be immortal.

stationary

important documents

luggage

grandma’s lists

locks and keys

books

paper weights

bedding

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.