Images of horror line Milo's space: the top of a calve's head barely clearing the horizontal slat of a stall at the killing yard, eyes wild with terror -- lambs with socks on their heads, yoked together by a rope, on their way to slaughter -- the flayed head of a cow, muscles opalescent and twitching in the light -- two roosters closing in on a miscarried lamb fetus.
From the press release:Alessandra Sanguinetti draws on myth and fable, focusing on the interaction and interdependence between humans and domesticated animals in the countryside outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Frequently photographing from the vantage point of her subjects – including lambs, cows, horses, pigs, chickens, dogs, and rabbits – the artist acts as a witness to moments where life and death hang in the balance.
Myth and fable? I suppose it's there in some form or other. Nothing specific comes to mind, no myth about the chickens who ate the fetus, for example. But the kind of terror seen in Grimm fairy tales and mythologies of Northern Europe and Greece was definitely somewhere in the mix.
What this show really reminded me about against my every inclination was the wretched horror of animate physical being. We're all so ridiculously delicate, so subject to the whims of whatever or whoever is stronger and hungrier. That we can define the quality of life for barnyard animals, let alone for human children, seems wrong on so many levels. It's something I don't want to think about as I carve into a roast chicken or a pair of fried eggs. It's something I can only be driven to contemplate. And in contemplating it I almost feel like I'm paying a bill, performing some sort of gut-wrenching penance for my carnivorous sins. It's the kind of penance that brings no redemption, whose chief service seems to be to make you question your own existence, even the parts that only death itself can change.
Alessandra Sanguinetti -- On the Sixth Day closes on October 14th. Unless you'd like some day to be part of a Menendez murder re-enactment, please consider leaving the younger kids outside with the au pair.
Yossi Milo Gallery
525 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
9/10/2006
Alessandra Sanguinetti -- On the Sixth Day
at Yossi Milo Gallery
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 witty retorts:
Some believe that the first ancient religions were built to reconcile the knowledge we ate what we loved, and we had love for what we ate. The idea of sacrifice and respect to slaughtering animals we hunted.
The Innuit carry fresh water for after they kill an orca or seal, they pour that fresh water into the mouth of their food in gratitude.
One of the reasons I prefer to eat wild animals rather than farmed/captive animals is because at least I know they lived free till they were part of the process for humans to live. Salmon, venison, bison are my favourite sources of protein, although it is a challenge to find sources that aren't farmed!
Good reviews Bill, gave me much to think about. So glad to have met you!
Cheers
Candy
Post a Comment