Metaboston

Art Inspired by Forest Hills Cemetery

John Kramer has an installation and exhibit about Forest Hills Cemetery at the Art Institute of Boston's gallery near Porter Square.

A photographic installation and meditation on natural and sculpted forms in the context of a 19th-century garden cemetery—Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain.

Loving all mixtures of cemeteries and art this seems quite good.

Don't Photograph H.P. Lovecraft's Tomb!

While Providence's North Burial Ground has opened up to an art exhibit, as we wrote about recently, Providence's Swan Point Cemetery is not a friendly spot for visitors coming to see horror writer and Providence native H. P. Lovecraft's monument and perhaps photograph it.

“Matt sez, "One of my favorite writers, Caitlin R. Kiernan, was the subject of verbal abuse, profanity and homophobic remarks from some sort of security guard when she and her companion went to visit H.P. Lovecraft's grave. The guard attempted to make them delete all of the photographs they had taken, despite the absence of any policy forbidding it. Are cameras like catnip for abusive, power-mad rent-a-cops now?"

((Image: H.P. Lovecraft's grave:  Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike photo: StrangeInterlude, Flickr).

Art Installation in Providence's North Burial Ground

Jay Critchley has installed art in an unusual venue:  the grounds and mausoleums of Providence's North Burial Ground.

“There's art inside the crypt. "Cryptic Providence" features installations throughout this 110-acre public cemetery (there were also staged performances in June and another is planned for Sept. 27, the day before the show closes). Critchley's own piece, "Final Passage," sits in the mausoleum's entrance. It's a vintage Chevy mummified in bandages woven artfully across the hood. He has suspended a handful of Little Trees air fresheners above the car (I guess if there's anywhere you'd need an air freshener, it would be a mausoleum). It's a bold work, slyly tying oil consumption to mortality, and it trumpets Critchley's camp aesthetic.  (Image:  Jay Critchley's 'Mummy Car')

Info:
Cryptic Providence: More Than a Graveyard
On view through September 28.
North Burial Ground,
5 Branch Ave.
Providence, RI
401-621-6123
www.arttixri.com/performance_info.cfm?PID=1688
www.jaycritchley.com

Mt. Auburn Cemetery Discussion

Blanche Linden will discuss her book  Silent City on a Hill: Picturesque Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery at the Harvard Book Store on Feb. 8th.

"Inspired by developments in England and France, and founded in 1831, Mount Auburn became the prototype for the "rural cemetery"  movement and was an important precursor of many of America's public parks, beginning with New York City's Central Park"

Just a little off the main tourist trail the Mt. Auburn Cemetery is an incredible spot and almost a hidden treasure.  Should be a good opportunity for an introduction to this landmark.

Coyotes in Cambridge

Coyotes have now been seen in Cambridge and given the title of this announcement from the City of Cambridge "Coyotes in the City - a time for Precaution not Panic" not everyone is excited about it.  Where have they been observed?  "There have been sightings of coyotes in the City of Cambridge, specifically in the Cambridge Cemetery, Antrim Street, Wendell Street and the Third street areas. This is not unusual since the normal range of a single coyote can be from 2 to 30 square miles." (Image: Emily Chambliss, Duke University)

An eerie spot in Rhode Island

An eerie spot in Rhode Island:  the site of a massacre on the grounds of an abandoned monastery (in Cumberland).  "Fueling rumors that the site is haunted is the fact that the unidentified bodies were repeatedly dug up in ensuing years."

1908 Gun Battle in Jamaica Plain

A 1908 gun battle in Jamaica Plain is revived in this interesting collection of contemporary newspaper accounts including the description of a "dramatic shootout at bucolic Forest Hills Cemetery."

Zombie Walk: Davis Square to Harvard Square: 5/12

Big crowd at Halfway to Human's Davis Square to Harvard Square walk on May 12th.  Some highlights below:
 
Zombie gets up close and personal

Colonial zombie

Nun zombie

Retiree zombie in yellow cardigan

Chainsaw zombie races by

Child zombie dances

Disco zombie

Zombies want acceptance too:  "We're Here, We're Undead, Get Used to It!"

Rabbit/clown/zombie

Where's Waldo (He's Undead)/Also Tennis Zombies

Great costumes!

Zombie March--May 12!

Only a couple more days until the Halfway to Human Davis Square to Harvard Square Zombie March.  Looks like a good weekend for the undead to rise and seek brains.  It's likely to be cool enough for zombies to embrace a 28 Days Later full-speed run as well as the classic Romero slow stumble.

If you miss this one, there's another coming up in July but the route proposed is a marathon:  South Station to Harvard Square.

Zombie Walk: Davis to Harvard: May 12th

Halfway to Human's Second Annual Zombie March will take place on May 12th, 2007.  Zombies will congregate in Davis Square around 6:30pm before beginning their slow undead lurching walk down to Harvard Square.

Pet Caskets from Maine

Shopping local (fairly local) can now apply to the pet casket market.  Woodworker Matthew Dow of Albion, Maine has been developing a new line of business at his custom woodworking and saw mill operation by hand-making  pet caskets for animals large and small.  Prices for basic models range from $95 to $395 based on size.

Lovecraft Death Roundup

For the 70th anniversary of H.P. Lovecraft's death, Boing Boing has a nice compendium of photos, comments and links.

Lovecraft Tours in Providence

If you missed the recent Pulp Uncovered Festival due to the nor'easter, there is still fun to be for Lovecraft enthusiasts in Providence.  You can find information about self-guided walking tours of Lovecraft linked sites from several sites.

Granary Burying Ground and Guerilla Marketing

Another guerilla marketing campaign gone awry but this time one that actually threatened some harm to a historic Boston cemetery.  Unlike the Mooninite fiasco in which police mistook ad lights for bombs, "Dr. Pepper held a 23-city hunt for coins that would ultimately lead to a $1 million prize. Contestants would find codes under bottle caps, enter those codes into a special website and be given additional clues to physical locations throughout the 23 cities where they would find the coins."  One of the final coins was hidden in the Granary Burying Ground but Dr. Pepper "canceled the campaign after hearing Boston officials had closed the 347 year old Granary Burying Ground (originally closed due to icy paths, not the contest), the location of one of the final coins. The cemetery stayed closed once officials realized all the people trying to get in were in search of the coin, not to tour grave sites."