A matter of life and death
In 'Dwelling,' 15 artists turn Forest Hills Cemetery into an inviting place of comfort
By Liza Weisstuch, Globe Correspondent | July 12, 2006

You could blame Stephen King or point a finger at Wes Craven, but the notion of cemeteries as places of fear and gore seems as tough to shatter as a granite headstone. But by no means has it always been that way. The Victorians regarded cemeteries as a final home, a place of comfort.

To this day, the Forest Hills Cemetery, which was established in 1848, is the ultimate haven for many Victorians (not to mention those who continue to be buried there.) The cemetery’s latest attraction, ‘‘Dwelling: Memory, Architecture & Place,’’ a series of 15 installations by 15 artists, taps that 19th-century awareness and evokes comfort and domesticity.

‘‘The Victorians wanted people to visit and walk around,’’ says Cecily Miller, executive director of Forest Hills Educational Trust, who also oversees the public-art projects. ‘‘It’s meant to be a place where the living come, not a place of isolation for the dead.’’

The exhibit is arranged so that it’s easy to spot the installations from a distance as you amble along the cemetery’s pastoral paths. Several graves suggest residential architecture — from steps that lead to where a doorway would stand to a space that resembles a front-yard garden plot. Many of the artists underscore the idea of gravesite as domicile.

In Nadya Volicer’s ‘‘Living Room,’’ a functioning rocking chair is the centerpiece of a colorful mosaic floor, assembled from wood recycled from demolished houses. Suspension filaments rigged with wood fragments connect the carpet-like floor to surrounding tree branches, creating a connection — and tension — between death and live natural elements. ‘‘A Place To Stay,’’ by Michael Beatty and Mike Newby, is an ornate birdhouse that echoes the Gothic Revival style that defined much Victorian design and is visible in the surrounding memorial structures. And Halsey Burgund takes a completely different approach in ‘‘One Hundred and Four Thousand,’’ a sound piece he developed through conversations with Forest Hills visitors and employees about the cemetery.

‘‘Dwelling’’ was unveiled late last month, but the opening event was rained out and is rescheduled for Sunday. It features ‘‘The Water Project,’’ a collaboration between visual artist Michael Dowling and dancer and choreographer Christine Bennett. The movement-based rumination on the concept of ‘‘dwelling’’ is performed by members of Bennett Dance Company to live cello accompaniment. Set on the banks of the cemetery’s Lake Hibiscus and on a floating dock, it explores what dwells in water — both tangible life and abstract energy.