This is another postcard from my pre-viral pre-relapse parallel universe when I took myself on an artist date to see an exhibition of art made by animals at the Grant Museum of Zoology. It was more of a display than an exhibition and as the museum is part of UCL there was an academic aspect to the artwork on display.
Some of the paintings were made by primates who will happily splash paint onto canvases but the paintings by elephants were made by their handlers tweaking their ears as the elephants held the brush in their trunk. Are the elephants painting or is it the humans who are pulling their strings (or ears)? Can primates really represent their world by making marks on a blank canvas? Can Tracey Emin for that matter? Burning questions indeed.
The man in the photograph studied the literature on the table and tut-tutted and shook his head and had a good old mutter to himself. He sort of became an installation in his own right. Maybe it was his cardigan. He was taking it all very seriously but I could not determine his opinions on the subject of the art-making animals. As for my opinions—I was happy enough just to be there and explore.
2 comments:
I love the muttering man being an installation in his own right! Guessing you are not a Tracey fan? I do really like some of her pencil drawings.
I have to admit that I became more interested in the man's reaction to the animal art and his presence became part of the experience, so I suppose you could say he unwittingly became part of an installation or performance.
I'm not one of these people who get all worked up about Tracey Emin. I quite like her work with fabric. However, I'd also say that through her ability to promote herself as her own 'brand' or 'product', her fame and image sort of overshadows her talent. But then, you could say the same about Madonna.
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