Death in Contemporary Art: Ritual, Taboo, and Immortality

Carmelania Bracco explores the evolving role of death in contemporary society and its relationship with art. Drawing on Geoffrey Gorer's 1955 essay "The Pornography of Death," she argues that death has replaced sex as the primary taboo of the 20th century. The article contrasts traditional mourning rituals—such as open doors, covered mirrors, and white funeral posters—with modern practices that rush the process, leaving little time for communal grieving. Bracco references Byung-Chul Han's "The Disappearance of Rituals" (2021) to explain how the loss of ritual corresponds to a loss of community. She also invokes Otto Rank's idea of art as a means of immortality, a prolongation of life beyond the body's limits. The text includes a personal memory of a wake in a historic center, with young people sitting outside, music playing, and white mourning posters peeling from damp walls. Bracco suggests that art resolves the conflict between life and death through a triadic relationship: artist, artwork, and viewer. The viewer is the static element that enables ongoing communication between life and death. The article features an image from Alessandro de Leo's series "Mye Eye My Enemy" (2018).