..... and a dead horse
1995
By Margriet de Moor and with Johan Wagenaar
The question is whether it is feasible or not. Casting an animal is technically impossible, unless it is dead. I can choose from four dead horses. Deposited in the large hall of the abattoir, the carcasses are remarkably different. This is not due to color or size as much as to the position in which they died. It is important to analyze this position, the moment the animal hits the ground, because I don’t want the expression of the future cast to be dramatic and even less to suggest a cruel death. Serene like a dead fly, which has stopped its fruitless spasms on the window sill and seems to have frozen in the clear light. The preparatory activities require respect. The animal has to be rubbed with grease or Vaseline. My hands are stroking a dead animal. Each of the four legs, the neck and the mane need an extra thick layer, because otherwise the moulds won’t come off loosely. Another problem is the fact that the hair tends to stick and clot, which makes at difficult to produce a sharp cast of this part of the horse’s body. The sound of my hands. In order to determine the location of the moulds I have to divide the animal into three sections. This division is related to the concept of ‘loose cover parts’, a technical term which refers to the need for the moulds to allow easy removal from the original. One loose cover part points downwards, one covers the middle-side section and others point upwards. In the end they fit in like a jigsaw puzzle.
...
(︎︎︎click here to read the full text)
The question is whether it is feasible or not. Casting an animal is technically impossible, unless it is dead. I can choose from four dead horses. Deposited in the large hall of the abattoir, the carcasses are remarkably different. This is not due to color or size as much as to the position in which they died. It is important to analyze this position, the moment the animal hits the ground, because I don’t want the expression of the future cast to be dramatic and even less to suggest a cruel death. Serene like a dead fly, which has stopped its fruitless spasms on the window sill and seems to have frozen in the clear light. The preparatory activities require respect. The animal has to be rubbed with grease or Vaseline. My hands are stroking a dead animal. Each of the four legs, the neck and the mane need an extra thick layer, because otherwise the moulds won’t come off loosely. Another problem is the fact that the hair tends to stick and clot, which makes at difficult to produce a sharp cast of this part of the horse’s body. The sound of my hands. In order to determine the location of the moulds I have to divide the animal into three sections. This division is related to the concept of ‘loose cover parts’, a technical term which refers to the need for the moulds to allow easy removal from the original. One loose cover part points downwards, one covers the middle-side section and others point upwards. In the end they fit in like a jigsaw puzzle.
...
(︎︎︎click here to read the full text)
Exhibitions:
@ CBK Utrecht
@ Gallery Diecidue, Milaan, Italie
@ APC Galerie Keulen, Duitsland
@ Rudolphplatz Keulen, Duitsland
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Photo: Rudolfplatz Cologne
Texts:
> ..... and a dead horse, Margriet de Moor en Johan Wagenaar, 1995> Artist statement, Johan Wagenaar, 1995 (in Dutch)
@ CBK Utrecht
@ Gallery Diecidue, Milaan, Italie
@ APC Galerie Keulen, Duitsland
@ Rudolphplatz Keulen, Duitsland
Photo: Rudolfplatz Cologne
Texts:
> ..... and a dead horse, Margriet de Moor en Johan Wagenaar, 1995> Artist statement, Johan Wagenaar, 1995 (in Dutch)
Above: documentation of the process, photos by Hans Leutscher
In August 1995 the dead horse disappeared from its place on Rudolphplatz in Cologne.
Below: Letter by the thief who took the sculpture
In August 1995 the dead horse disappeared from its place on Rudolphplatz in Cologne.
Below: Letter by the thief who took the sculpture
