Taken in the University of Alberta's Museum of Zoology and Paris' La Musée Fragonard, these large-format photographs of pickled animals and their display settings is driven by questions about how we display and discuss animals. Maria Whiteman examines the rapidly-changing world of scientific classification where very old ideas-complicated hierarchical cate- gories built on careful observation-are being reexamined in an age of genetic catalogues. Whiteman engages a tradition of spillover from science into artworks that spans the age between Peter the Great's famous curiosity collections to Mark Dion and Damien Hirst's taxedermied conceptual art, and considers both the individuality of the animals and how they become objects for display.
Related Links:
Read the Monograph Essay by Amanda Boetzkes.
View posts about Maria Whiteman on the Latitude 53 Blog.
Taxonomia/Working Order by Carolyn Jervis, Vue Weekly