Death Makes Us Grow (2025)
My first encounter with death was at the age of fourteen when my mother passed away. In my grief, I longed for the comfort of believing she was in a better place, but I have found solace in the idea that life is cyclical. In death, we transform into something new and more-than-human.Microbes are at the centre of this transformation; they play an essential role throughout life, and continue to do so even after we die. When our hearts stop beating, they break down our bodies, returning nutrients to the earth and creating new life from what once was ours.
I am particularly interested in exploring what happens to our microbiome after we die. The microbes that aided our digestion during life continue their work, breaking down our bodies and turning digestion into “Diegestion.” Through this exploration, I aim to ask what happens to our perception of death if we consider it a form of microbial reincarnation. Can we begin to see death not as an end but as a continuation of life through these microbial networks?
