Shirts. Pants. A seashell. These are all items New Yorkers donated to create a new art exhibit at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. And they are all items people left behind when they died.
What happens to a loved one’s belongings when they pass away? What happens to the clothes, the books, the jewelry that remain?
These are questions Adam Tendler, artist in residence at the iconic cemetery, poses in his new exhibit, Exit Strategy, an installation that explores the physical items loved ones leave behind when they die. The exhibit is now on view through Aug. 25 in Green-Wood’s Fort Hamilton Gatehouse.
Community-driven art
New Yorkers contributed nearly 100 artifacts that were owned by their late loved ones to create Tendler’s community-shaped exhibit, including friendship bracelets, clothes, paintings, VHS tapes, and even an outfit made for a toddler.
These items surround a piano at the centerpiece of the exhibit. The piano itself is an artifact, enshrined in shawl netting and surrounded by a cornucopia of items as well as hand-written notes people wrote to the departed.
Exhibit visitors are immersed in an environment that fosters reflection on life and death. Music, text, visuals and the array of objects are layered on each other to create the artistic, solemn piece.
Tendler, an award-winning pianist, said he created the exhibit because he has been thinking a lot about exits, especially after the recent passing of his own father.
“This is a project that is focusing on human relationships,” said Tendler, a Brooklyn resident who is originally from Vermont. “It’s the lives of everyday people, myself included. It’s about the connections and the intimacy that is shared between loved ones and the complexities between those relationships.”
Tendler accepted items from Green-Wood visitors throughout the spring and summer. One particular item that stood out was a seashell given to him by a school teacher whose student died from AIDS decades ago.
“She held on to this shell for 30-something years,” the artist shared. “She said, ‘This would have belonged to a former student of mine who would have been in his 40s now.’ He was involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. His wish was to see the ocean and go to Florida. They sent him to Florida and he brought the teacher back this shell. He passed away, and she had held on to this shell.”
Tendler said the woman was in tears as she handed him the artifact. The shell hangs on the wall in the exhibit space.
“When you’re in the space, the kind of mystery behind the objects, but also behind the written testimonies, is what, I think, makes it even more powerful,” Tendler said of the installation.
The artist added that viewing the exhibit can be very “freeing” for anyone who has lost a friend, pet or relative.
“People go in there, and they come out, and they’re sort of in tears,” he said “They may not have even contributed anything, they’re just affected by the space.”
Exit Strategy is on view at Green-Wood Cemetery, located at 500 25th St., inside the Fort Hamilton Gatehouse. The exhibit runs on weekends, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Aug. 25.
When the exhibit is over, items will be respectfully and “thoughtfully repurposed,” Tendler said, adding that he intends to keep the messages visitors wrote to the loved ones.
