>

<

in collaboration with Elina Vitola

Bone fragments, Bronze ticks. Bones lent by the University of Tartu Natural History Museum

While many species go missing without us knowing about them, this work puts a face on creatures that deserve our attention. Made of animal fragments and bronze ticks, the assemblage presents chimera that are anchored in the past lives of different animals and anticipate potential species to come. Located in a vitrine that usually displays posters and event information, it shows, in sculptural messages reminiscent of missing or wanted people’s photos, the faces of imagined creatures, a metaphor of the faceless mass extinction that is currently taking place. The presence of a parasite – known, as parasites are, for encroaching on an existent relationship – among these contemporary masks is suggestive of creative connections that can foster new becomings. The work is thus suggestive of alternative being-together within the fragmented habitats of the Anthropocene, making space for the unexpected and the forgotten in disguise.

Text by Sara Bédard-Goulet