Aloi, Giovanni (Author)
Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science, and Technology
Volume: 27
Issue: 2
Pages: 187-209
“Speculative Taxidermy” is concerned with a range of contemporary works of art in which visible animal skin is critically employed as a defining indexical interface between animal, human, and the medium of representation itself. Approached in specific ways, preserved animal skin can unlock new ethical and political opportunities in human/animal relationships and convey the urgency of addressing climate change, capitalist exploitation, and mass extinction. Defined by a deeper investment in materiality, “Speculative Taxidermy” capitalizes on shared physical and ontological vulnerabilities concealed by the naturalization of past human/animal institutionalized relationships that still haunt contemporary practices. In this essay, these themes are explored in relation to the anthropomorphically modeled cowhides of Nandipha Mantambo and in the manipulated horse bodies of Berlinde de Bruyckere.
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