marry who they love; they’ d probably be into issues around justice.
I look for outsiders and the unexpected in the Cemetery. [ One day ] I ran across a headstone with Arabic writing and another in Hebrew. I made the decision [ to include ] Bernard Malamud because I’ m an admirer of his work, and it’ s not widely known that Jews are buried at Mount Auburn. The headstone with the Arabic calligraphy on it [ memorializing educator Sohelya Rafieezadeh, 1954 – 2002 ] also had an unfathomable saying in English:“ Will I ever again dance on wine glasses.” It led to this fantastic deep dive into the world of an Iranian dissident poet of the 1950s [ Forugh Farrokhzad, 1935 – 1967 ]. I was fascinated to meet [ Rafieezadeh’ s ] sister, who comes to the Cemetery every day. I got to know her and learned a lot about Persian culture and Iranian political realities of today.
Mighty asked for help from Tom Johnson, Manager of Family Services, in identifying a married same-sex couple whose surviving partner might be amenable to being interviewed and filmed; and also families of color.
RM: I’ m particularly interested in lesbian and gay people who are married. [ Tom thought of ] Gerald Dagesse and Cliff Richards.
I’ ll introduce myself to the person, saying Tom Johnson suggested that you might be interested in talking to me. I’ ll meet them at the Cemetery, and I’ ll say,‘ Look, I cannot do a biography of your loved one, because that would be a full-length movie, but I’ ll want to spend about a year with you, off and on, and I’ m going to photograph and shoot film and record sounds around your loved one’ s grave for at least one year.’ I’ m not trying to make a comprehensive, balanced picture; this is not journalism. I just want an impression. In fact, these pieces are about the person I’ m in contact with.
Roberto and and Lillian Hsu whose family is featured in earth. sky.
At the end of the year I take all that stuff, hours and hours of footage and recordings, and then— it’ s incredibly painful, you know— snip, snip, snip, [ edit it ] into some kind of coherent impression of the person.
JG: What do people say to you when you say that you are an artist-in-residence at a cemetery?
RM: [ laughs ] Oh, they say they’ re dying to see my work. I believe I’ ve heard‘ em all. But mostly it’ s intense curiosity: what could that possibly mean?
I pride myself on the fact that everything that you see [ in my films ] you could see with your own two eyes. For example, at Bernard Malamud’ s marker. I filmed it in all four seasons. So, I’ m standing over it and there was a leaf right over his name. But I will not move a leaf! The authenticity is very important; that’ s the documentarian impulse. The art thing comes in what you do with it.
I have a lot of rules. One of them is I can’ t take a picture that a hundred other photographers or filmmakers have taken. I could show you a clip of this and a clip of that, but to me it won’ t mean anything unless it’ s all put together into a coherent visual narrative that will somehow speak to the viewer.
Mighty’ s work at Mount Auburn is getting attention in cemetery-industry magazines, in part because film and video are emerging as dynamic new media for memorializing the dead. He will be screening portions of earth. sky at the upcoming meeting of the New England Cemetery Association.
RM: Like many people my age, I’ ve had brushes with the cemetery system— in our case on Long Island in New York. Doing this kind of work you get an amazing perspective on the whole thing. I’ m interested in helping people organize their thinking around their loss of loved ones. There’ s a tremendous amount of avoidance of these issues that goes on. In the Afro-Latin cultures of my father’ s native land, Panama, there’ s a very sanguine attitude about death. [ Unlike here,] people plan for their death way in advance.
What fascinates me is the depth of emotion that people are feeling, around feeling incomplete about their responses or reactions to what happened in the time leading up to a loved one’ s death or passing. There’ s some ritual thing that I think is missing.
RHR: What’ s the future home of earth. sky? Where’ s it going to live?
RM: It can travel to anywhere where there are five screens. I’ m keenly interested in having people walk into a space and that space coming alive with this exhibit all around them. I would love to have a station [ like Story Corps ] where people could record their own stories, and have that instantly be a part of the exhibit. That’ s something I’ m working on.
[ The Cemetery residency ] is such an opportunity. It’ s the commission of a lifetime, and it’ s taken me all my life to get this one. I just can’ t thank you enough.
2017 Volume 1 | 3