Grief is loss, but not always limited to the loss of a person by death. Grief is something we all will inevitably encounter at one point or another. Despite this reality, each experience is unique in terms of the situation and what is needed to cope. When someone is grieving, it can be difficult for others to know what to say or know how to help. Although most people have the best intentions when helping to support a grieving person, it’s the unsureness, lack of awareness, and deeply rooted ignorance that causes many to wind up speaking out of turn. Nonetheless, like many other difficult pathways to navigate, grief shouldn’t be ignored in conversations or brushed off in a years’ time.
"What Should I Say?" is a multi-media project designed with the intent to normalize discussions about grief for both those who are directly and indirectly affected. Combining transcribed audio with color, text, and photo, each story is told from the perspective of the grieving individual. The conversation of grief was facilitated by asking participants a series of questions including; where their grief journey starts, who it involves, what were some helpful and unhelpful things that were communicated by others to you during this period, suggestions as to what others should avoid saying in these kinds of situations, what advice can be provided to someone experiencing a similar grief journey, as well as a color that they may associate with their grief story. Throughout the installation, the recurring question “what should I say?” and “what would you say?” invites viewers to reflect on how they would respond to someone in a comparable state to the respective stories exhibited.
