Commissioned by Sick Festival (as part of Radio Local with Hunt + Darton), Manchester 2019

The Last Arrangement is an audio work exploring the end of life, in which we interviewed 6 florists asking them what flowers and which song they would want played at their own funeral. 

Flowers are the epitome of the cycle of life: they bloom, and then they die. Local florists are at the heart of local communities, where people go to mark celebrations of love, birth, marriage and funerals, using a visual language that is sensitive to etiquette, religious traditions, and symbolic meaning. Florists often support people through a range of emotions: tears, joy, happiness, dealing directly with grief through funerals, and it is this emotional aspect that creates a sensitive and contemplative context for this project. 

This audio work offers us an insight into how people want to be remembered, illustrating how chosen songs and flowers are specific to how people are living and celebrating their lives, ultimately inviting the listeners to consider their own mortality.

Recorded in bustling florist’s throughout Manchester, with the following florists: 

Hamish Powell

Stephanie Valentine 

Kerry Wood

Michelle Fitzsimons

Sarah Walker

Lucy Thorniley