Wolfgang Natlacen’s ovoid funerary urns can rock like a Weeble toy to offer you an alternative to the “grey and unhappy conformism of death” (+ movie).
Named Misirizzi – which literally translates as “roly-poly” toy – the containers are created as an irreverent get on the traditional urns employed to store stays.
The container rests on a curved base, and is constructed from rot-resistent acacia wood – the very same material frequently used by ancient Egyptians for sarcophagi. It can be coated with a glossy back or gold finish.
In accordance to Natlacen, the urns offer an option to the “grey and sad conformism of death” and had been informed by his studies into Egyptian funerary art.
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“In between canopic and libation jars, I attempted to update that form by giving it a double use,” the French designer told Dezeen.
“The urn is then not any more confined to the dead individual but becomes a lot more digestible, mixing business (the coffin) with pleasure (a operate of artwork, a toy),” he extra.
The heaviness of the acacia wood permits the urns to wobble back and forth when pushed with no falling above.
“It is then feasible to reside, to perform, with this Weeble with no automatically dramatising death,” said Natlacen. “Coexistence among the residing and the dead becomes lighter.”
The containers are divided into two halves, and the leading section can be lifted off to reveal a hollow room for storing and protecting ashes.
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The urns are part of Natlacen’s ongoing fascination with funerary design, which prompted the designer to produce a tomb shaped like a picnic table in 2010.
“By creating this I believed I anticipated, or settled, a issue,” he explained. “Even so I realised that the tomb was not adequate. I had to consider care of the rest: coffins, urns… “
The acacia-wood urn before getting coated
Designer Neil Conley has designed a similarly non-traditional interpretation, producing urns constructed from carbon fibre reclaimed from decommissioned aircraft.
French-German designer Geraldine Spilker suggested an alternative method, with a procedure that would bind ashes with resin, which could then be employed to generate a small biodegradable memento object.
