MODEN:Start/EXHIBITIONS/domestikation: Difference between revisions

====Competition (''Spiel und Wettkampf'')====

The "Wall of Fame" shows a custom selection of animal trophies – medals, show ribbons, sashs, rosettes and a cup.

[[File:Felixsattler domestikation medals detail.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Elisabeth Kaufmann & Felix Sattler: Kalkül und Leidenschaft II: Spiel und Wettkampf  (''Wall of Fame'')]]

Animal races, fights and shows have a long-standing history in many cultures. Some are even constitutive for a people's social fabric. One of the most notable investigations has been Clifford Geertz ethnographic work on the cock fights in the Balinese society. His findings have been important for developing general theories of play such as of Roger Caillois and others. The "Reason and Emotion" series is far from being an adaption of Caillois’ four categories of play for the theory and practice of animal domestication. However we were somewhat inspired by his approach, which especially shows in our "agon" installation (= competition, Caillois used Greek names to label his categories).<br>

More recently, these animals and plants appeared on the logos of well-known commercial brands as well as sports clubs and other institutions. They have become important for the communication of corporate identities. The goal is to symbolically transfer the animals’  or plants’ actual or imaginary properties to athletes or consumer goods such as sports cars and energy drinks.

We decided on a small collection of coats of arms, corporate and sports clubs logos. In order to emphasise the different application of the same species, we printed the coats of arms on wooden panels, the brand logos on aluminum and the sports clubs’ bagdes on textile to resemble athlethes’ and fans’ jerseys.

Of course we do play with our food – and maybe we must needs to do so. During food preparation, animals and plants are aestheticised in order to remove any trace of their dismal existence in our industrial food production environments. Only by doing so, they become edible again at all. The tools we use during the process of transforming a carcass into an appealing typology of meat pieces do not only resemble the practical need to make complete use of the  animal. The different shapes of knives, forks and other instrumentation also tell a story of cultural diversification and ancient rituals and religious practices.

We like the idea to correspond a typology of knives with the one of a beef meat chart. The chart's visual similarity to the periodic table of the elements added to the "scientific" feel of our work, hence linking it back to the natural history museum’s rule for precision.

[[File:felixsattler_domestikation_01.jpg|800px|The Phyletisches Museum's "Medusensaal" special exhibition area showing the Domestikation exhibition. The exhibition logo and the bench around the central column were designed by Elisabeth Kaufmann & Felix Sattler and Konrad Angermüller (graphic design). Foto: Felix Sattler]]