The wild and the tame

This work is part of a larger body of work titled The best animals are the flat animals – the best space is the deep space. Featuring performing animals and staged forests, these works examine conceptions of “the wild” and “the tame.” The best space was staged with a performing Andalusian horse and his trainer in a darkened arena, one performing for the crew and one trying to hide in the shadows. They are surrounded by a swirling mist, generated by a fog machine. Only about ten seconds long, the image tracks an isolated gesture: the horse takes a bow, an incredibly difficult movement for the animal. The horse is like a ballerina, gingerly making the most delicate of gestures—glaring in its unnaturalness yet beautiful in its falsity.