(Click to enlarge)
2015
Acrylic on unfixed canvas, polar bear skin, 2,44 x3 x3 m.
Elaborated on the premisses of the gallery, Anthropocène is a cohabitation of a polar bear artefact and painting. With this work I wanted to seize the opportunity to initiate a critical discussion on our contemporary way of life which sentences a significant portion of the population to an empty and unfulfilled life while a small portion has access and exploits the human, animal and natural resources. We carry on in this inherited organised system where we still believe that we are superior to all other life forms even though animal’s skill for language, ability to develop cultural habits and use of tools have long been proven.
Considering that the installation was less about aesthetics and more about an open discussion, it acquired it’s full meaning when presented at the 2016 Nuit blanche: many people came up to me willing to share their views, some very emotional, others joyfully sitting on the polar bear skin chatting and patting the fu.
photo credit: Guy L’Heureux.