Taryn Simon: An Occupation of Loss

Grief, ritual, power — revealed. Step inside Taryn Simon: An Occupation of Loss, a powerful and visually arresting monograph by acclaimed artist Taryn Simon that explores how the world performs, processes, and politicizes loss. Years in the making, this extraordinary book documents Simon’s deep research into professional mourning — culminating in her groundbreaking 2016 performance at the Park Avenue Armory, co-produced by Artangel. For this monumental installation, professional mourners from around the globe gathered within a vast sculptural structure to simultaneously broadcast their lamentations, transforming grief into sound, space, and spectacle.

Blending performance, architecture, and immersive audio, the project examined the anatomy of sorrow — and the intricate systems societies create to manage fate, uncertainty, and death itself. But the story doesn’t stop at the stage. The book also traces the complex visa application processes required to bring the mourners into the United States, exposing the political frameworks that govern borders, bodies, global exchange, and cultural hierarchy. Edited by Aliza Watters and presented by Artangel, this 219-page volume is both a visual archive and an intellectual deep dive — part art book, part social investigation, part poetic meditation.

Striking, thought-provoking, and unforgettable, Taryn Simon: An Occupation of Loss invites you to reconsider what it means to grieve — and who gets to be heard.

A bold exploration of sorrow, systems, and spectacle — this is art that resonates long after the final page.

Details

• Paperback Cover 
• 219 Pages with 54 Illustrations
• Dimension: 5.8in x 0.8in x 10.6in