(Whale signs and animal tracks)
Pernille Kløvedal Helweg
17.2.-8.4.12
Stavanger kunstmuseum
Prints made by and from animals
It all started with a turtle. The artist
was interested in turtles and their symbolical mening. Eventually she
started having them crawl over print plates, thus creating printworks.
This must have been so inspiring that she went on to other animals and
birds, like seagulls, penguins, rats, bears, elephants, etc. I guess she
started with the small ones and then got bigger and bigger animals.
Then at some point she must have wanted to be in control of the prosess,
and started printing with dead dolphins and ultimately a whale. Their
bodies were hoisted onto print plates, creating a base for etchings.
It began with a turtle - prints made by turtles
Documentation videos show how seagulls land on the plates and start fighting for the food left there, a bear scratches the bronze plate that covers the entrance, a penguin is forced to walk on a print plate. The process of printing with dead dolphins and the whale is also shown.
Video documentation
The
results are rather abstract prints. On some it is possible to identify
the footprints of the species, on others you are kept wondering who it
might be. There is a story behind every print: Was the animal tricked
there by food, or was it forced there? The process and the "real" artist
become as important as the actual prints. I am reminded of artist
Morten Viskum that paints with a dead human's hand, where also the tool
becomes more important than the artwork. Are the animals only tools to Pernille Kløvedal Helweg?
Or are the works rather a praise to the natural movements and traces of
animals? At least the animals are not caught or killed to be part of
the art. They were already in the zoo or stranded on the beach. But
apart from the seagulls being fed, the animals are mostly unvoluntary
participants.
Lion, muskrat, polar bear, elephant etc.
Etching of an entire whale
Whale prints
I
am thrilled by the creativity of making these artworks, but I also spot
some morally questionable issues. Is it OK to use animals for our own
purposes? After all, is not that what we do all the time, using their
meat, skin, or just for amusement? And I wonder: after going up in sizes
from turtles to whales, what is next? Is this a dead end, or will she
move in another direction?
