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This talk is dedicated to the music & memory of #DavidBowie #FreddieMercury #AmyWinehouse #GeorgeMichael #MarcBolan. It& #39;s also for anyone who has ever sat in a suburban bedroom listening to their rock & pop heroes #festivalchat2020 https://bit.ly/2JamyhL ">https://bit.ly/2JamyhL&q... (1)
On 10 Jan ‘16 Bowie died in New York, aged 69. Reportedly, he has no grave & the problem for fans is that there is no obvious place for mourning. Thus, unofficial shrines were created as foci for remembrance in both London and New York #festivalCHAT2020 (2)
A plaque in Heddon Street marks the spot where Brian Ward photographed Ziggy Stardust - who fell to earth here in 1972. The iconic photography on the cover of TRaFoZSatSfM has meant that Heddon Street is a long-standing site of Bowie pilgrimage #festivalCHAT2020 (3)
The term ‘spontaneous shrines’ was coined by Jack Santino to mean ‘temporary memorials’ constructed to mark ‘sites of untimely deaths.’ Music shrines tend to located due to a biographical or symbolic associations or an association with song lyrics (rarer) #festivalCHAT2020 (4)
Tunstall Road in Brixton has no direct biographical link to Bowie beyond being a street near where he grew up. This tribute site is located due to the symbolic value of the Aladdin Sane mural (by Jimmy C) that decorates the wall of Morley& #39;s Department Store #festivalCHAT2020 (5)
In Barnes, the T-Rex Action Group are the legal leaseholder & managers of the Marc Bolan Rock Shrine, a site of pilgrimage since Marc Bolan died in a car accident here in 1977. The shrine is complex, with a bust, a noticeboard & a memorial stone #festivalchat2020 (6)
There is a memorial statue to Amy Winehouse in Camden Market, unveiled in 2014. People like to pose for photos, take selfies & link arms with Amy. Gary Vikan has noted the tactile nature of pilgrimage. Making/touching is integral to the construction of shrines #festivalchat2020 7
And fans spend time selecting & transporting tribute objects. These often have perceived personal meaning for the artist. Milk & peppers for Bowie. Outside Amy& #39;s former home, cigarette packets are pushed into the matting that protects a tree shrine #festivalchat2020 (8)
There are & #39;lost& #39; shrines. The wall of Freddie Mercury’s home in Earl’s Court was covered in fan graffiti until all material was removed in 2017, apparently due to pressure from neighbours. & #39;George& #39;s Garden& #39; (George Michael) in Highgate met a similar fate #festivalchat2020 (9)
Celebrity veneration isn& #39;t new & #39;tho some think it escalated after Princess Diana& #39;s death in & #39;97. In August & #39;77, hundreds of vans delivered flowers to the Memphis Funeral Home. See Getty Images https://bit.ly/35HjMYR ">https://bit.ly/35HjMYR&q... #festivalchat2020 (10)
But veneration can be problematic for site owners & managers. Fan behaviour in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, has led to some conflict due to the theft of busts & grave markers, as well as graffiti. This is & #39;the& #39; cult location for Jim Morrison/Doors fans #festivalchat2020 (11)
What do shrines mean & what do they do? There is a body of literature that suggests that shrines operate as a form of collective, popular culture & as a therapeutic device where fans heal by paying respects & recording their own stories at them (Recuber) #festivalchat2020 (12)
In so doing, fans cont. to shape the star& #39;s trajectory post-death. Frow has written on the entanglement of fame with religion & the ultimate potential transcendence of stars through structures of intercession, repetition & seriality. He asks: Is Elvis a God? #festivalchat2020(13)
To end, tribute practices are acts of love performed thru& #39; tribute choices/placement/travel. Shrines aren& #39;t static entities & the extent to which they remain (while the tribute objects change) depends on access, visibility, management & continuing fandom #festivalCHAT2020 (14)
This talk is based on a 3-year longitudinal study of tribute sites in London & Memphis conducted by Hilary Orange & Paul Graves-Brown (as Co-Is). Free to download publications resulting from the project can be found here https://bit.ly/37NiSwB ">https://bit.ly/37NiSwB&q... #festivalchat2020 Thanks! (15)
