Obituary

A recurring element in the sculpture of LN Tallur is money or other ways in which value and prestige are quantified, exchanged, and displayed. He has used actual coins from different countries in a number of works, playing with the fact that art is usually expensive but its value is constantly shifting. “Obituary” uses a wooden log as its body, into which a number of coins have been hammered. The viewer can add a coin, thereby increasing the value of the sculpture. But here, the sculpture acts as a memorial to someone, both funeral pyre and altar. The incense smoke, wafting above the work, reminds us that one cannot take material wealth into the afterlife.