Are Humans Animal? Encountering Animality at the Marian Goodman Gallery
Without any prior knowledge of its title or thematic elements, one might not have immediately realized Animality as a celebration of earth’s fauna. A pink octopus that slunk along the floor and a giant furry white squirrel could have been at home at any contemporary art fair. However this ubiquitous presence of animal imagery in human society and production only stands as further reason to explore the relationship between the two.
Animality vaguely guided its visitors with bright red splashes of animal prints, meandering about in a seemingly confused manner. The prints emulated the experience of viewers as they roamed the various rooms, constantly twisting and turning to confront some new stimulus that begged the question of how one theme could connect such drastically diverse mediums.
The exhibition presented its viewers with numerous and varied forms taken by our relationship with the animal kingdom. Animal as specimen, animal as symbol, animal as extension of self all operated together to demonstrate animal as muse of the human imagination.
Cold but colorful taxonomical illustrations, humorously narrated documentary film, fantastical sculpture, and elegant photographical portraiture all served as examples of how our fascination with the role of animals in society can be as varied as the hundreds of species held under investigation.
This fixation is most strikingly demonstrated through the lens of anthropomorphic representation. Works like the multilingual The Jungle Book Project (Pierre Bismuth 2002) and Scenes of the Private and Public Life of Animals (JJ Grandville, 1842) demonstrate society’s willingness to endow animals with human characteristics to an often-entertaining effect. Is it the appeal in the comedy of seeing an animal as human or the catharsis of seeing human as animal? Either way, viewers should not have been surprised to find themselves feeling for newly sprouted antlers or whiskers after exiting Animality.
Animality was shown at the Marian Goodman Gallery November 3-December 17 2016.
http://www.mariangoodman.com/exhibition/3806/installation-views
