Olaf Breuning’s Cool Coffins

It wouldn’t be Undead Wednesday without these cool coffins by Swiss artist, Olaf Breuning! Breuning journeyed to Ghana for the coffin creation back in 2004, but great arty caskets don’t stay dead and buried in the age of the Internet.

The three full-sized coffins were designed by Breuning, funded by Adam Sutherland (curator of Grizedale Arts, a partner of the Tate) and fabricated by the Ga. Alas, great chocolate may come from Breuning’s Switzerland, but great chocolate caskets are made in Ghana.

Breuning’s melting-themed “fantasy coffins” were made by the Ga, original inhabitants of the area around Accra. The Ga believe we should be buried in coffins that reflect how we earned a living. (Breuning skipped class that day, I suppose.) Ga coffins have been featured in National Geographic, and a book called Going Into Darkness: Fantastic Coffins From Africa was published in 1995.

Full-size coffins cost around $1,500 and take up to 3 months to make. You can commission 1-foot “desktop size” coffins for $175. These are perhaps useful for deceased pet rodents, but more people use them as treasure chests, apparently.

Check out the Ga coffin gallery here. Buy your own here.

Revisit the last time Olaf Breuning graced these pages [NSFW] here.