A portion from the installation "Ghost Train": (Tasmanian tiger)
Andrea du Chatenier, Artist
This is one of the
photographs
in our collection.
It was made in
Whanganui, Whanganui Region, New Zealand
in 2004.
See full details
Object Detail
About the Work
"This
was
a
surprising
find
in
the
Sarjeant’s
collection
as
I’ve
only
ever
known
Andrea
for
her
charismatic
and
crunchy
ceramics.
It’s
interesting
to
reconcile
the
fun
glazing
experimentations
in
her
ceramics
with
the
interactive
work
that
is
Ghost
Train,
which
provokes
experimentations
of
a
grislier
nature.
The
inclusion
of
the
taxidermized
Tasmanian
Tiger
housed
at
the
Whanganui
Regional
Museum
melds
visual
arts
and
museology
brilliantly
and
prompts
questions
into
how
we
preserve
nature,
for
whom,
and
for
what
reason."
- Anique Jayasinghe, 'My Choice' exhibition series, November 2022
Collections of artifacts can seem sinister as is the case with Samuel Drew’s Natural History collection at the Whanganui Regional Museum. Its breadth enabled many swaps to occur internationally so that as well as possessing an abundance of local fauna and flora it also contains specimens such as the now extinct Tasmanian tiger.
Such a collection represents a rational system, and legacy of the Age of Scientific Enlightenment which saw Captain Cook sent to the edge of the Earth in pursuit of the Transit of Venus. However, it could also be argued that these taxidermied specimens from the late 19th century also typifies the kind of irrationality which featured in Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein (first published in 1818), and more recently by director James Whale in his 1931 film version of Shelley’s story.
Understanding that these animals were killed to preserve/protect them for future generations presents a vision of a macabre kind of Ark. Even though DNA cloning was not conceivable at the time of their killing, the animals exist in a half-life waiting for the harvesting of their DNA and re-animation. Whichever way we view these animals they exist as extensions of our own imaginations and tell us more about ourselves than anything else.
Artist, Andrea du Chatenier has created an interactive work which invites us to ‘re-animate’ a dead animal shrouded by a sheet on the central table. If we participate (by recording an ‘inner animal’ sound onto the tape recorder) we are ‘rewarded’ by an electronic wag of the dog’s tail.
- Paul Rayner, intro to post-residency exhibition 'Re-Animation of the Dispossessed, Sarjeant Gallery 2004-2005.
- Anique Jayasinghe, 'My Choice' exhibition series, November 2022
Collections of artifacts can seem sinister as is the case with Samuel Drew’s Natural History collection at the Whanganui Regional Museum. Its breadth enabled many swaps to occur internationally so that as well as possessing an abundance of local fauna and flora it also contains specimens such as the now extinct Tasmanian tiger.
Such a collection represents a rational system, and legacy of the Age of Scientific Enlightenment which saw Captain Cook sent to the edge of the Earth in pursuit of the Transit of Venus. However, it could also be argued that these taxidermied specimens from the late 19th century also typifies the kind of irrationality which featured in Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein (first published in 1818), and more recently by director James Whale in his 1931 film version of Shelley’s story.
Understanding that these animals were killed to preserve/protect them for future generations presents a vision of a macabre kind of Ark. Even though DNA cloning was not conceivable at the time of their killing, the animals exist in a half-life waiting for the harvesting of their DNA and re-animation. Whichever way we view these animals they exist as extensions of our own imaginations and tell us more about ourselves than anything else.
Artist, Andrea du Chatenier has created an interactive work which invites us to ‘re-animate’ a dead animal shrouded by a sheet on the central table. If we participate (by recording an ‘inner animal’ sound onto the tape recorder) we are ‘rewarded’ by an electronic wag of the dog’s tail.
- Paul Rayner, intro to post-residency exhibition 'Re-Animation of the Dispossessed, Sarjeant Gallery 2004-2005.
Measurements
Image: 750 x 490mm
Media
black and white photograph
Description
Photograph of a Tasmanian tiger mounted specimen from Whanganui Regional Museum Collection.
Credit Line
Collection of the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui. Tylee Residency exchange, 2004.
Collection Type
Permanent collection
Acquisition Date
2005