Yesterday, Karly wrote some rockin’ posts on animal furniture for Elle Decor, and on animal plates for our DC. When faced with the daunting task of following in her fantastic footsteps, I realized the only thing left to blog about was… animals. Real ones. I’m not even talking about the ubiquitous deer heads seen on every single wall in the country, but I am talking about real… animals. Sort of. Before anyone goes all PETA on me, let me just say (as my thin and poorly executed defense) that I am from northeast Texas, y’all, and taxidermy is part of my cultural heritage. People, just be glad I didn’t adopt other quirks indigenous to that region, like flashing my Neocon credentials, or drinking moonshine. Which is actually kind of good. Not the neocon part.
Besides, you know you want this:
Dutch design duo Idiots (their term, not mine) are the latest incarnation in a long line of taxidermy artists, and when I say “artists” I do not mean the nefarious creators of jackelopes and other such curiosities designed to finagle dollars from your pocket at the local fairground.
I mean, for example, the incomparable Annette Messager, hero to all artists of the collector persuasion, myself included:
Did I mention that I’m weird? Messager’s insanity laden early 90’s exhibition of taxidermy wearing stuffed animal heads is like the goth girl version of Mike Kelley’s stuffed animals placed in compromising situations. (He did the cover for Sonic Youth’s Dirty if you’re old enough to remember it.)
More recently, Kelly McCallum has been tearing up the London scene with her intricate juxtapositions of brilliant metalwork and memento mori:
Who knew birds had clockwork hearts?
Back to the Idiots, whose conviction I find utterly convincing:
I have this empty spot in the corner that I just know this would fill brilliantly. The lime green embroidered “skirt” and black ruffled petticoats are so amazing that it becomes hard to look at this level of craft and feel grossed out.
Some more flights of fancy:
And one more charmingly feathered friend:
There’s such an enormous amount of respect that goes into each creation that I feel like these little sculptures have been loved into life. Every detail, from the animals themselves to the beautifully blown glass, is perfect.
And then there’s this:
What’s the matter? Never seen a crystal encrusted decapitated deer before? Neither have I, friends, neither have I.
Wait, this is ostensibly an interior design blog, right? Well, then, design a room around this:
What would you do with this 17 foot long shark Damien Hirst eloquently titled, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living? I’m afraid it’s unavailable for anything but fantasy since Charles Saatchi already owns it, but we could ask, What Would Saatchi Do? WWSD? If your heart aches for a formaldehyde encased shark of your very own, you could always attend today’s auction at Sotheby’s of what may be the entirety of Hirst’s personal collection, and it’s sure to include some creepy crawlies. Don’t forget to bring your $500 million dollars with you.
Related posts:
September 16th, 2008 at 7:24 am
this is my favorite bit of taxidermy EVER:
http://yetanotherbloomingblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/weasel-on-motorbike.html
September 16th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Have you seen Sarina Brewer’s work?
http://www.customcreaturetaxidermy.com/
September 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am
The weasel is hilarious! And I saw Sabrina’s work on the web along time ago, but I had forgotten about it. It reminds me of some pieces they had at a little shop in SF. Funny little vignettes of squirrels and mice in… odd positions
Anyone else have some funky friends they want to share? Keep ‘em coming!
September 16th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Crazy and neat! Love the birds with fabric - very clever.
September 16th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
All hail Erin, the best sorcer on the planet! This is out of control. The tiger is going to give me nightmares
September 16th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Ha! Maaaaaaaybe the second best
September 16th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Deyrolle in Paris is the granddaddy of all taxidermists. The shop suffered a fire earlier this year which destroyed much of its gallery.
http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/it/2008/02/beloved-taxider.html
September 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Yesterday’s crab table and today’s whole post is too Sarah Palin’s office for me. Sorry girls.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Its all lost on me… the lioness (or big cat…whatever!!!) is just too sad!
However i KNOW you will enjoy the jewellery of Melbourne artist Julia DeVille. its spooky beautiful! http://www.juliadeville.com/
September 16th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Raina, that looked like it was an amazing shop! So sad about the fire.
Connie, you may have a wee baby point, there… at least there’s no rick rack or shiny waxed legs in sight.
Camilla, that is an AMAZING link! If I had seen it before today, I would have posted it… thanks!
September 20th, 2008 at 11:58 am
[…] Glass Menagarie: Crystal encrusted taxidermy via Design Crisis […]
September 24th, 2008 at 7:31 am
[…] Idiots are another really interesting group that play with taxidermy too. Check them out, and more taxidermitry at Design Crisis […]
October 6th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
So assuming all of you have enjoyed a steak. You prefer to eat something and then throw what is left away? Many people can preserve these animals and leave them looking beautiful. That shark I am positive is a fiberglass replica. Almost all salt water fish mounts anyone has anymore are fiberglass replicas made to look like a fish of the same size as one that someone caught. They are made by “Taxidermists” and have no actual fish parts to them. They are made to look like a fish. Most people can’t tell the difference. So it seams to me that the red neck taxidermist has a bit of skill to make people as yourselves get grossed out on the thought of a fish being in a room when in reality it is about the same as a painting.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:19 am
The Hirst shark is a real tiger shark, it had to be replaced in 2006 due to deterioration, formaldehyde is not a permanent way to preserve tissue.
- A philosophical question was acknowledged by Hirst, as to whether the replacement shark meant that the result could still be considered the same artwork. He observed:
“It’s a big dilemma. Artists and conservators have different opinions about what’s important: the original artwork or the original intention. I come from a conceptual art background, so I think it should be the intention. It’s the same piece. But the jury will be out for a long time to come. -
I had to write a history of art essay on Hirst and cultural value, whether the value was lost when the original shark deteriorated, are both sharks equally valuable, or just the replacement? Did Hirst intend for the shark to decay to give another facet to the meaning of the title? What did he do with the first shark? Quite interesting. There is an accurate but brief article about the piece ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” on Wikipedia, if anyone wants to know more.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:41 am
[…] {source} […]
October 16th, 2009 at 4:50 am
There is apparently a lot to know about this!