Make death fun, the Warhol way.

The Andy Warhol Museum’s exhibition “Andy Warhol: Vanitas” explores the theme of mortality. But most people avoid confronting death, and a subject that sparks anxiety rather than creativity needed a way in. The Warhol needed to make the exhibition resonate beyond the museum walls by dismantling that fear and reframing death not as an ending, but as a final opportunity for creative self-expression.

BarkleyOKRP worked with The Andy Warhol Museum to create The Death Kit, a set of tools to help people “seize the decay.” Each kit includes a guide to help excavate the unique parts of one’s personality for writing a eulogy, creative alternatives to sending flowers, and a poster of inventive casket hand poses. The launch reimagined the internet’s obsession with unboxing videos as “the only unboxing that prepares you for your eventual wooden boxing.” Influencers were invited to unbox the kits on social media, transforming a familiar format into a conversation about life, creativity, and the humor in our shared mortality.