Anodyne
Monday, April 09, 2007
 

Kitty Scott gets the conceptual, ethical, and economic implications of Brian Jungen's magnificent Habitat 04 in a flash:

"One of the primary reasons the SPCA concerns itself with the welfare of cats today is that the supply far outweighs the demand. In this situation the institution functions as a feline halfway house between life and death. One of the SPCA's goals is to find prospective homes for cats. Sadly, the remaining cats that do not find homes are put down. As I understand your proposed scenario, the cats brought to Quartier Ephémère will remain there until adopted and new cats will replace those that leave. Effectively, this means you are extending the lives of a number of cats and for those that find homes, you are giving the gift of life.

Your proposition is worthy enough. Still, I cannot escape the art context and the value of your increasing fame within this system. For every cat passing through the Safdie inspired compound becomes a ready-made imbued with all the worth your name signifies in the current art world. In other words, the value-added cat becomes a Jungen artwork, or perhaps 'multiple' is a better word. Such signification will hopefully increase the chances a cat will be 'collected' and thus survive."

(Nb. silkscreened kitty-carrier "multiples" at far right, stacked up like Warhol Brillo boxes, ready to carry new friends home)
- posted by cjb @ 10:07 PM


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