The People’s Pyramid
Welcome back, and welcome to the Dark Ages.
The original plan was simple: write one more of these and get on with my life. How I laugh at that idea now. Instead, I’ll be writing a series of reflections on the various elements of Welcome to the Dark Ages and how they fit together—or don’t. This may eventually include a final wrap-up of the three days, but for now I’m focusing on one piece at a time.
Disclaimer: the following are my opinions. We all have them. I don’t claim to know more than anyone else who was there—but I bloody well know more than those who weren’t. After all, I am a Graduate.
Ten entries in, I almost regret using “KLF” in the title, since they barely existed at Welcome to the Dark Ages. But Google and SEO are hungry gods, and must be appeased.
So: The Rites of Mumufication, and The People’s Pyramid. The JAMs are now in the funeral business.
Scouring the web for coverage has been maddening. Almost no one has even mentioned The People’s Pyramid, let alone taken it seriously. Google “KLF” right now and you’ll mostly find headlines about Jarvis Cocker’s cameo. Three days of immersive ritual and art, and all the media care about is a ten-minute appearance.
I’ve been moaning on Twitter at journalists about it. The Guardian’s piece (later reprinted in The Observer) was riddled with basic errors. Pitchfork reported the event as happening in London. Two days later, the headline still says London. They haven’t even bothered to fix it.
Just like with the Jura burning, the press largely shrugged. Called it a “stunt.” Insulted the people who gave their time, money, and imagination to it. But ignoring The People’s Pyramid? That’s the real crime.
Indulge me. Let’s say it actually happens. Let’s say 34,592 people sign up to MuMufication, each leaving behind a brick with 23 grams of their ashes sealed inside, eventually creating a 23-foot pyramid in Toxteth.
How is that not one of the greatest artistic concepts ever?
It’s an artwork that can only be completed by the dead. Designed by the living (The JAMs and Paul Sullivan), but requiring decades of collaboration from people who won’t be around to see the end. A pyramid that grows, year by year, as more bricks are added on Toxteth Day of the Dead (November 23).
Death has appeared in art plenty of times—Dr. Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds, for one—but nothing on this scale, nothing so voluntary, and nothing that literally uses the ashes of thousands to build a monument.
Yet the coverage? Shrugs, sneers, and silence.
“Did you buy a hundred pound brick?” was the first question I got.
Of course I bloody well did. Even if it comes to nothing, it’s still a brilliant idea to be part of. At the very least it’s an overpriced souvenir, a conversation-starter, and a piece of art in its own right. Who wouldn’t want a 2am drunken chat about maybe one day being buried in a pyramid? Practically makes us the pharaohs of Toxteth.
The pyramid is only half the idea. The other half is Toxteth Day of the Dead itself—an annual ritual that will grow bigger each year as more people join. It’s not just a one-off. It’s a tradition.
I tried explaining it all at a family party. My brother might even join me. My mum didn’t mind at all. (Admittedly, she’s already had to hear about the tattoo.)
Look: if I can show a total disregard for my body by getting tattooed mid-event, do you really think I’ll treat my remains with solemnity? I’ve always admired extravagant last requests. Hunter S. Thompson had his ashes shot out of a cannon. So why not a pyramid brick in Liverpool?
It’s worth remembering: Drummond and Cauty will be long dead before this pyramid is anywhere near complete. So will most of us. It’s not an artwork for them to finish. It’s generational.
If it works, it’ll stand as one of the boldest artistic collaborations ever attempted. Not a stunt. Not a prank. A work that spans decades, and whose creators will never see it finished.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
A partnership between The JAMs and Papa Gede has begun. I hope it prospers.
For more details on MuMufication visit www.mumufication.com.