Tim Bengel Creates Large-Scale 'Flower Skull Cemetery' Overnight

With Berlin Art Week having recently concluded, a large-scale public artwork has appeared overnight. German artist Tim Bengel has come forward as the artist responsible for what he calls a ‘Flower Skull Cemetery’ made with 10,000 flowers and 100 marble headstones.

Created on the property of Factory Berlin, a co-working space named after Andy Warhol’s studio, red and white heather shrubs were planted around marble gravestones to form a skull and crossbones. The headstones contain messages concerning generational problems related to consumerism, social media, and existential dread, along with political messages surrounding climate change. Messages include, “I tried to impress people I didn’t like,” “I lived the life of someone else,” and “Offline was my favorite place to be.” Others are more hopeful: “I spent my life with people I loved” and “Every day was perfect.” Bengel hopes that those who experience his work will ask themselves, “Why did or didn’t I live?” while walking through the possible answers to that question.

Although known for his gold-leaf embellished sand paintings on Instagram, the artist created an installation that had to be experienced firsthand, whether from walking through the shrubs and reading the headstones or viewing the entire work from above from the surrounding buildings. While the piece has no official name, people have called it Flower Skull and Graves of Our Generation.

Check out how the artwork was installed in the video above and head over to Tim Bengel’s website to view more of his work.

In other news, Damien Hirst launches his “Mandalas” exhibition in London.