Kate Gummere, Student Work

Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Wood, dirt, pyrite bits, rope, paint, air dry clay, weathered coins, 

black string, and weathered rock.

20" x 8" x 2.5"

The holes on the lid mimic the bullets shot through characters so unrealistically that light will shine through them. The box itself is meant to look like a coffin due to the fact that there is so much death within the anthologies, but no coffin or burial scene is shown. It is as if there is no time to grieve in the wild west.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a collection of six stories. The box contains two layers. The first layer contains objects representative of five stories. the second layer represents the sixth story. 

Items in the first layer:

The dice made from air dry clay has only 1's and 8's, a reference to the poker hand that Buster Scruggs refuses to play that is Aces and Eights which is rumored to be the "Dead Man's Hand". The second item is a rope that was tied into a noose with two knots. This item represents the cowboy in "Near Algodones" in which the character was revealed to have been hung several times before his final hanging. The rock tethered to weathered coins tied represents the story "Meal Ticket". This story ended by Liam Neeson's character throwing his money maker, whom had no arms or legs, off a cliff into a stream. For the "The Gal Who Got Rattled" tale a small box was crafted to mimic a suitcase that was brought on the trail to Oregon. The two bibles represent the brother and sister whom both were practicing Christians. The item resembling a dog collar has Native American symbols carved on it and  references the death of a man (the brother) and a woman (the sister). The last item within the first layer is a crow's beak made from air dry clay to represent the bounty hunters in "The Mortal Remains". 

The second layer:

After removing the first layer one will be greeted with what can be assumed is just a pile of dirt. This section requires the viewer to move the dirt around in order to find small pieces of pyrite. This is representative of the story "All Gold Canyon" in which Tom Wait's characters searches for long periods of time to find gold. The Prospector's death is the only death that is lingered on which reveals that he didn't die and in turn killed the man that tried to kill him for his gold.