THE GREAT WHITEOUTENING

For this 2016 series, the materials selected were intentionally outdated (Polaroid photo, whiteout, push pins), and the entire act of the project was an attempt to in some way reclaim dignity of the wild animal.

The trophy hunters’ part. Think about every conscious acts that must occur in order for these photos to available online for this work: an initial thought of wanting to kill X animal, a plan and schedule is made, supplies are purchased and packed, the alarm clock is set in order to wake up for the kill, breakfast is eaten, perhaps the dog is fed and brought along too, travel is made into the animals’ habitat, the track or wait occurs, the kill itself occurs with all the frantic fear and life energy of the animal as it dies unnaturally, the bleeding carcass is positioned, the camera is taken out of the pack, the glory pose with huge smile of accomplishment, the carcass removed and dismantled or sent for taxidermy, and last but not least, the photo is printed out for home and also shared online for the world to see.

The artists’ part. After unexpectedly being confronted with these disturbing images while doing online wildlife research, the response is conceptualized, initially in anger, and then as pure apology to the animal on behalf of my own species. Then, the act of intentionally seeking (tracking) countless websites for trophy hunt images. The selected glory pose photos are taken (hunted and killed) from the removed digital world, and brought into the real world in Polaroid format. The the physical act of applying Whiteout over each hunter is a way of stripping their ego and right to that animal, leaving visible only their smile (ego, reminder of why this all started) and the beautiful wild animal who had the great misfortune of crossing paths with a trophy hunter.

This project is a reciprocal act, an attempt of some undoing; a deep apology to these animals.