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Friday, March 30, 2007

The Flesh Becomes Word

posted by on March 30 at 10:59 AM

Product designer Nadine Jarvis takes “in remembrance” to a new level altogether:

Carbon_Copy_pencil_w.jpg

Carbon Copies

Pencils made from the carbon of human cremains. 240 pencils can be made from an average body of ash—a lifetime supply of pencils for those left behind.

This is only one part of her project on post mortem traditions. See also her bird feeder and her precariously brilliant Rest in Peaces urn.

Death, where is thy sting now?

RSS icon Comments

1

Wow.
My grandmother, who died last year, worked as an accountant all her life. She had a house full of pencils, and would have appreciated this tribute very much. If only I had known...

Posted by Gurldoggie | March 30, 2007 11:23 AM
2

I was supporting her idea until she insisted on using the word 'creamains.'

Posted by Sashakovich | March 30, 2007 11:52 AM
3

It's somehow fitting that the pencils don't have erasers.

Posted by laterite | March 30, 2007 12:02 PM
4

"Cremains" is the industry-standard term. You might as well complain about "waste stream" for "garbage."

I like this idea. My mother was a school teacher all her life, and still has one of those classic screwed-to-the-desk hand-crank sharpeners she uses regularly. She's planning on being "burned up" anyway, so I'll have to ask her if this appeals to her: she can have them given out to all her friends and relatives.

Personally, I want to be a reef.

Posted by Joe | March 30, 2007 12:04 PM
5

Yikes. I'm a lifelong pencil-chewer. Not for me, I think.

Posted by Fnarf | March 30, 2007 12:35 PM
6

I've thought about being cremated and have my ashes turned into Christmas Ornaments or beer glasses.

Posted by elswinger | March 30, 2007 1:11 PM
7

-- both links go to the bird feeder... where's the urn?

Posted by Aaro)))n Edge | March 30, 2007 1:30 PM
8

The link to the RIP urn has been corrected. Thanks, Edge.

Posted by Nick | March 30, 2007 2:19 PM
9

I'm a firm atheist, and I don't much care what my partner or relatives do with my corpse when I'm dead. But all of these ideas creep me out a little bit.

I do, however, like the idea of the reef suggested by Joe @4. That sounds kinda cool, and actually helps the environment to boot.

Posted by SDA in SEA | March 30, 2007 3:05 PM
10

Wow, talk about beating swords into plowshares.... or, uh, sharecroppers into mightier-than-swords... or, uh, something like that.

Posted by treacle | March 30, 2007 3:46 PM
11

Wow, if there's anything left of me after I donate my remains to medical science, having it turned into pencil lead sounds like a great idea.

Posted by COMTE | March 30, 2007 11:16 PM

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