Respectful Disposal: a public exhibition of Mark Shatanov's PhD artwork
24 September 2026
Mark Shtanov’s PhD artwork was exhibited at Saan1 gallery in Manchester over the weekend 25-26 July. The event was supported by Sustainable Futures and the Tyndall Centre.
The display extended over 3 floors of the gallery. The ground floor provided an introduction to the research and warned the visitors of the more sensitive content upstairs. Along with a large 2x3m painting (acrylic on OSB board), the researcher was stationed at the ground floor to signpost the visitors.
The first floor content told the story of the dead bodies from donation to incineration, with all intermediate stages. Suspended from the ceiling on fishing lines, nine panels were made three-dimensional through the use of foam extrusions. At the point where the body leaves the biomedical domain and becomes waste, the room was notionally divided by a threshold and different colour of lighting. At this point, the visitor also encountered the large 200-litre drum, suitable for incinerating the torsos.
The second floor took a visitor through the spoken, written and drawn reflections by waste workers and death specialists – two participant groups Mark has worked with. Whilst encountering these reflections, a visitor also got glimpses of the video talk, showing a wider range of drawings and featuring challenging questions, asked by the academics at Virginia Tech. At the end, a visitor had a chance to provide written and drawn reflection on how they feel, and what surprised them. The responses were dropped into yellow drums, similar to those used for anatomical waste at the incinerators. After the event, the drum revealed an overwhelming quantity of poignant responses and drawings, which will enable the study to continue expanding.
Mark is grateful to Sustainable Futures, the Tyndall Centre, and everyone who helped with setting up and attended. For more information and images please refer to the exhibition web page: