We were lucky to catch up with Kate Mueller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kate, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
In all truth, I think that building a coffin was the healthiest thing I have ever done. Working with my hands is my form of meditation. I think about death all the time. Those thoughts have changed form over the years. When I built my first coffin at 20 years old, I was processing the loss of an identity, processing change and death in general, trying to figure out my place. My mind will turn over and over on a concept until I feel like I can understand it. I have been meditating on death now—through my pieces– for over 13 years. The pieces I create have become less literal. For the last few years, I have been building porter chairs/ temple structures. I am interested in the creating spaces where consciousness and matter connect outside of linear time.
Kate, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My hope for my pieces would be that they offer the setting for a way-of-being. Like Heidegger’s Dasein. A metaphorical personal sanctuary where one could show themselves, and “be there”. I love seeing people interact with my work. My latest porter chair is surrounded inside and out with panels of mirror. It is basically like sitting in a magical celestial kaleidoscope! I have seen people enter it and feel absolutely “giddy” at having an experience unlike anything previously experienced. I have also had people tell me that they felt “confronted” by the kaleidoscopic effect of their many eyes and faces staring back at them. I enjoy that the experience is in constant collaboration with what people bring to it. I have also hosted a handful of coffin parties over the years. The coffin, being a symbol system of Death so ingrained in our culture, curates a different tone for a communal experience. At my coffin parties, each guest is offered a chance to lay in the coffin for 15 minutes or so, and have the experience however they choose. Lid on/ lid off, listening to music, silently contemplating mortality, Etc. My Coffin Parties offer the setting for some really interesting conversations. Sex and death, baby. They are intrinsically connected.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In 2013 I walked the Camino Santiago de Compostela as a solo female traveler. It’s 500-mile trail that starts in the Pyrenees in the south of France and goes clear across Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a medieval pilgrimage trail that is intended to be walked on foot. I had been living in a monastery in Romania at the time, one of the other teachers in residence at the monastery had planned on walking the Camino together. Due to visa complications, my friend was unable to stay in Spain for the necessary month’s length needed to finish the Camino. She was the one out of the two of us that spoke Spanish, she had also been doing most of the research… I had already postponed my return flight to the USA for 6 weeks out. I was so terrified, but I had committed my heart to walking the Camino. It changed my life in more ways than I can list. As I said, I was fresh out of a monastery. I started the Camino in February. Very few travelers go during that part of winter. For the first 18 days, I did not see one female pilgrim. This experience taught me that I could handle myself. This experience also taught me that I could allow myself to receive help from others. I was helped over and over again. I am grateful for the lesson I was given by the people who could see that I needed help, when I was unable to see it myself. We are here for each other. If I can help you, why not?
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
If you are in the habit of putting your body through brutal feats—I recommend pairing it with stoicism. Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius is the book always with me. Another point of inspiration is Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech to a graduating art class. He speaks of trying to see career moves and opportunities as “heading towards a mountain”. I employ this tool with each project I say yes to. I would also recommend commencement speeches in general! For me, commencement speeches have been a useful YouTube rabbit hole to go down when needing encouragement. They are usually full of hope.
Contact Info:
- Website: Katemueller.com
- Instagram: @deathbykate
Image Credits
Kate Mueller Guile Branco