Philip Schwyzer

@philipschwyzer.bsky.social

303 Followers 176 Following

One of the reasons I am continually drawn to this project is that it is concerned with one of the most basic, shared human drives – that of memorialising and of memory, where in moments of acute individual pain and grief we reach for shared words, a common register, and whether we adapt those words or not they become individualised in their use. It is this movement between individual and communal expression that gets to the heart of what it is to be this social animal. I look at a chart of those inscriptions appearing 1,000 or more times and I don’t see uniformity, I see community. To remember this, and not just see numbers and spreadsheets, we desperately need to support the humanities – and each human who works within them.
Headstone (name not shown) of a US Air Force officer (d. 2002), with the epitaph 'MY SOUL IS IN | THE SKY'
A new painting of Donald Trump in the White House, showing him gazing toward a sharply pointed mountain peak. (Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/us/politics/trump-takes-stock-of-other-presidencies-shedding-light-on-his-own.html)
'EXETER UCU: OUR SIX KEY MESSAGES 1. EXETER UNI'S FINANCES ARE STRONG. WE'VE LARGE CASH RESERVES (£200M IN 24/25). NEVER HAD A BUDGET DEFICIT. THIS 'CRISIS' IS MANUFACTURED. 2. EXECUTIVE PAY AT EXETER IS OUT OF CONTROL. IF JUST THE 16 HIGHEST-PAID EXECS CAPPED THEIR SALARY AT £120K, WE'D SAVE MORE MONEY THAN ALL THE CUTS TO ARCHAEOLOGY & HISTORY! 3. NO MEANINGFUL CONSULTATION, BUT A CONFUSED MESS: FAULTY AND INSUFFICIENT DATA, NO REAL DISCUSSION, AND AN IMPOSSIBLE, INSULTING AND UNREASONABLE TIMETABLE TO PUSH THIS THROUGH OVER THE SUMMER. 4. AN ALL-STAFF MEETING OF 600 STAFF RESOUNDINGLY VOTED NO CONFIDENCE IN VICE CHANCELLOR LISA ROBERTS (WHOSE PAY IS PUSHING £400K). WE BELIEVE THIS IS THE BIGGEST SINGLE VOTE BY ANY UNI STAFF IN THE HISTORY OF UK HE. 5. REDUNDANCIES ARE A MANAGEMENT CHOICE, NOT A FINANCIAL NECESSITY. THEY EVEN HAVE ALTERNATIVE COSTED PLANS WITH NO CUTS, BUT THINK IT'S EASIER TO GO FOR JOB LOSSES. 6. EXETER IS A FANTASTIC UNI, WITH WORLD CLASS RESEARCH, CREATIVE AND INSPIRING TEACHING, THOUGHTFUL AND IMAGINATIVE COMMUNITY OF STAFF AND STUDENTS. LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY.' At the bottom of the poster: #DefendExeterUni Instagram handle @uniexeterucu QR link to sign the petition
Base of a gravestone for husband and wife, with Helena's speech, 'So we grew together, / Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, / But yet a union in partition, / Two lovely berries moulded on one stem, So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart. / M. N. III ii'
Headstone in Highgate Cemetery, with inscription: WILLIAM KINGDON CLIFFORD BORN MAY 4TH 1845 DIED MARCH 3RD 1879 I WAS NOT, AND WAS CONCEIVED. I LOVED AND DID A LITTLE WORK. I AM NOT AND GRIEVE NOT. AND LUCY, HIS WIFE DIED APRIL 21ST 1929 ---------------- 'O, TWO SUCH SILVER CURRENTS, WHEN THEY JOIN, DO GLORIFY THE BANKS THAT BOUND THEM IN'
Image of poem printed in a newspaper, entitled 'IMITATION OF SHAKESPEARE. WASHINGTON - IS DEAD.' The poem reads: HUNG be the Heavens with black, yield day to night! Comets, importing change of times & states, Brandish your crystal tresses through the sky: And with them scourge the bad revolting stars, That have consented to Our Father’s death. Virtue he had, deserving to command: His brandish’d sword did blind men with its beams, His arms spread wider than an Eagle’s wings: – What should I say? His deeds exceed all speech, We ne‘er shall look upon his like again. The first nine lines are adapted from the opening scene of Henry VI, Part 1, while the final line is adapted from Hamlet.
Memorial plaque to Susanna Barford in the south aisle of Southwark Cathedral, with text quoted in post
Frontispiece of John Taylor, "The Old, Old, Very Old Man," with woodcut of Old Thomas Parr, who supposedly lived to the age of 152, dying in 1535
Plaque commemorating William Hutt, describing him as 'Soldier - Actor', with two epitaphs from Shakespeare's plays.
Detail of monument to Samuel Ball Green with inscription reading 'In the 57 year of his age', followed by the partially legible epitaph.
Gravestone of George A Romero, with inscription: 'Now cracks a noble heart | Good-night sweet prince, And | flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.'
Grave of Walker Whiteside, with the epitaph 'Report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied.'
His epitaph reads simply The Readiness is All
Power’s grave with the quote from Hamlet, tacking on Good Night Sweet Prince at the end
equestrian statue of Sir Redvers Buller -- often seen with a traffic cone on his head, though not here
Gravestone with the text: '(Friendley Ben) Ben H. Dekle Mar. 4, 1921 Feb. 10, 1978 LIFE IS NOT A "TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT," BUT RATHER AN ADVENTURE WRITTEN BY THE FINGERS OF GOD. WEEP NOT FOR ME FOR I HAVE DONE THAT WHICH, YOU WHO ARE LEFT, MUST DO.
Short newspaper obituary reading 'John Bartlett, compiler of the well-known "Familiar Quotations," is dead. "After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well."'
Jackson's tomb, surmounted by a lion, bearing his image and the quotation from Julius Caesar.
A photograph of Shoemaker with a telescope and the moon in the background, captioned 'There is a man buried on the moon!'
Anne Hallam's tomb chest in Mitcham churchyard. The inscription, on the ledger, is not shown.
Question on an online form reading 'Please detail what future endeavours may result from the study leave activities.'
Extract from Discourse of the Commonweal listing imported luxuries the English can do without or make at home.