October 15th, 2008 pianist
It is important to me that I reveal the fictions in my work to my audience. I have always worked with scientific facts and aesthetic fictions.
There are some models of fiction that I work with, and I am beginning to think that certain things between humans and animals can only exist in fiction. The fiction takes place on the internet, in the news, in wildlife documentaries, in museums, in zoos and in our imagination.
I have long ago disabused myself of this trajectory that my work should unveil some hidden information and bring about some enlighted consciousness that will prompt some progressive action. I think this trajectory has long ago been proven or rendered ineffective and it is not the way that we work or experience the world around us. To me, my previous body of work remains problematic and my work in the Institute of Critical Zoologists serves as a balance, or an outlet for an alternative answer to the confusing and represented relationship we have with animals. I remain disturbed and guilty of indulging in the dire straits that animals are in today when they come into conflict with humans.
Once I remember searching for the most dramatic situations for animal activists groups and NGOs and to capture a story for all to see. I did the story and still I felt guilty. I was guilty for a fact that comments on my work like “I love this” and “This image is gorgeous” did not really satisfy my investigation into the relationship between humans and animals. What was represented became a consumable drama and the reality of the problem was ignored. There must be a way to portray this problematic relationship without having to exploit the subjects over and over again. To me, my older series of work in animal menageries have failed.
In John Berger’s famous essay in which is titled ” Why look at animals? “, I try hard to find an answer in his essay. He laments on the distanced relationship we have with animals but does not offer an answer on why we look at animals. His biggest clue to me was that the spectator-ship is always wrong.
Today, the way I work is that I produce my own documents within an institution. I find facts, trends in wildlife conservation and objects that affect me, and I imagine a sort of universe in which they exists and sometimes it is necessary for me to imagine events from which they happen. But like all wildlife documentaries that carries a bit of truth, I have always layered my work with facts and truths.
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