Animal Kingdom
There Was An Old Lady Who...
5. March –
17. April 2011
Is it possible to employ an animal as a readymade?
These films, selected by April Lamm, demonstrate the quasi-scientific mind of the artists in the act of observing animals – as if the news program “No Comment” were to focus its lens on the animal kingdom. Combined in a two-hour loop, the order of the films is based upon the nursery rhyme and memory game “There Was an Old Lady.”
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don’t know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she’ll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a spider that wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don’t know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she’ll die. There was an old lady who swallowed a bird. How absurd to swallow a bird …
Curated by April Lamm, the following artists were shown:
fly / Douglas Gordon
fly / Lucy Powell
spiders / Anri Sala
snail and worm / Ulrike Heise
sea horses / Jean Painlevé
frogs / Henrik Håkansson
octopuses / Jean Painlevé
newt /John Smith
finches / Carsten Höller
crow and pigeon / Julieta Aranda
chicken / Lucy Powell
sloth / Christoph Keller
pussy / Fischli/Weiss
monkey / Christoph Keller
donkeys / Douglas Gordon
cows / Franz Stauffenberg
horse / Anri Sala
bears / Werner Herzog
buffalo / Massimilian and Nina Breeder
elephant / Douglas Gordon
rhinoceros / Christoph Keller
lioness / Nina Pohl and Patricia Woerler-Horzon