Identifying Subjects

The Groundskeeper: The groundskeeper will be our expert for this project. We will want to interview the groundskeeper to find out about the site. I imagine that he/she would have many stories about who is buried there and what type of people visit or pass through the space. They would also have more concrete information as to where people are buried, who can be buried there and what the different types of tombs mean. The groundskeeper is a person who exists in the cemetery and moves about it everyday. They will have a unique perspective on the site and on death. We will ask questions about traditions, etiquette, respect,emotion, memory and space as it relates to death or working with the dead. The knowledge of the groundskeeper is more reflective of a collective memory than any other visitor to the space. The loved ones who visit the deceased know the cemetery in a very unique and personal memory of it.

The Passer Through: This group is represented mainly by college students. The people passing through tend to use the space as a short cut to get to the various athletic facilities just south of Florida avenue. There is an odd contrast between those at the end of their lives with those in peak physical condition. The people passing through don't seem to acknowledge the weight of the space. The cemetery exists in the periphery of their everyday path. The cemetery is the destination we all must reach at some point. The passer through is using this instead as a transitional space. Although the grave stones mark an event, the memories of this site are not accessible to the people moving through.

We are interested in exploring the differences in these two groups. The contrast between the local collective memory (groundskeeper) and the temporary collective memory (passer through) have interesting parallels to short-term and long-term memory of a society and a physical site.