Memento of the post-mortem.
Memento of the post-mortem.
When the Department of Pathology of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands moved from its old to its new premises, the demolition of the marble post-mortem tables was impending, taking with it the Department\’s (physical) memory. To keep the importance of this memory and of the post-mortem itself on everyone\’s minds in the new building, the artist Piet Hein Eek was invited to incorporate these post-mortem tables into a work of art. This became a triptych: the three post-mortem tables were stood upright against the wall behind a mounted double sheet of glass, containing screen prints of enlarged microscopic images. The two emblems of pathology-post-mortem tables and double glass slides containing specimens-were thus united into a fascinating work of art: a true memento of the post-mortem, re-embedded in the contemporary world by its design. Copyright (c) 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
van Speybroeck D, van Krieken J, van Daal W, Ruiter D.
Curator of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre Art Collection, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.