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Indepth Arts News:
"Wonderland: An Installation by Serena Kuhl"
2001-11-09 until 2001-11-24
24 HR Art - Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art
Darwin, NT,
AU
Following from the successes of Glory Box and the ‘critterscape’ in the ripe exhibition, this new installation by Serena Kuhl, explores hybridity and the interface between the artificial and the natural world.
Verging on the cute, Serena’s faux fur, wildly coloured critters inhabit the gallery space, creating a kind of furry ecosystem in which new life forms mimic the processes of organic life. This time the creatures reside between the world of innocent soft toys and disturbing, mutating otherworldly creatures. One of the main visual focuses of these creatures is their mouths which are either smiling, growling or consuming. This oral fixation recognises that a large part of our relationship with animals and the natural world is based on consumption.
It is interesting that this show follows on from Cybercultures: New Life in which many of the same issues were explored in the digital realm. Hybridity, genetic engineering, the evolution of new life forms, our tenuous relationship to the natural world and our interaction with animals also drives the concerns of this show. In Wonderland these issues are made tangible as this huge ‘critterscape’ forms a kind of ‘magic garden’ with it’s own rules and interactions, filled with quirky, beautifully made, alien life forms.
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