Unusual Animals
on view April 4-April 27, 2008
ARTWORK BY Andrew Au, Gala Bent, Ian Campbell, Cricket Press, Emily Detrick, Linda Erzinger, Kenton Hall, Keith Hampton, Jodi Hays, Lindsay Hine, Grady McFerrin, Douglas Miller, Bryan Moats, Sara Noori, Jason Pierce, Paul Rector, Amanda Reintjes, David Sankey, Laina Seay, Trevor Simpson, Matthew Smith, Roscoe Wilson, and Jason the York
JUROR’S STATEMENT from Michael Kaufmann
When the Unusual Animals imprint was created and positioned within the Asthmatic Kitty label structure, we envisioned it as a home for projects that had wandered in from the outer boundaries of our primary aesthetic inclinations. It was a waystation for wayward creatures, whose propensity for odd behavior suggested that they would be better off categorized as “unusual” as a means to forewarn those approaching. Rrrr, here there be less domesticated sounds!, so to speak (in the tongue of pirate). While our label is often characterized as a home for pop and folk acts, the Asthmatic Kitty “Board of Directors” have a rich and deep love for experimental music in its many forms and we wanted to share that interest. We invited some of these odd-behaving musicians into our home and happily discovered that these critters play well with each other as well those unlike themselves. And through that juxtaposition and interaction between our primary roster and these new editions, we discovered that while these new artists are certainly eclectic, so too are the other artists on our label. Though
some might not see it on the surface, the Asthmatic Kitty roster as a
whole is a group of artists experimenting with genre, sound and music on all levels.
So what does this self-congratulatory observation have to do with
Louisville and an art show? Why is a record label curating a gallery
called Unusual Animals in Louisville, thousands of miles away from its headquarters in Lander, Wyoming? Perhaps the secret lies within
taxonomy, the science/art/craft of organizing and classifying things. When I was in high school, I saw a movie on biodiversity that has stuck with me ever since. While it impacted my view on the
environment, it fundamentally altered my view not only of culture but culture-making. The documentary discussed the Amazon forest, and how each tree contains its own ecosystem, an individual tree often containing insects and animals completely unknown to science. It also spoke to the importance of these micro-ecosystems and the role of biodiversity in the overall health of the planet. I believe the same can be said for culture. In an age of strip malls and box stores, we have seen a steady erosion of local and regional identity. We have become a people that long for the predictable. We want to know that anywhere we go, we are assured a reliable plate of nachos and the name brands we trust. The faithful logos illuminate the night sky and we thank the heavens that while we might not know where we are driving, it is surely not into the unknown.
Two years ago, in Austin Texas, we threw our first Unusual Animals
party. It was during the SXSW Music Festival, a massive event that
brings in acts from all over the world for four days of music and
industry schmoozing. One of the things that bothered me about this was that a major corporation sponsored nearly every showcase in some form or fashion. An Austin-based friend and I decided that we wanted to throw a party that spoke to Austin as an amazing place the other 51 weeks of the year. We gathered up several local and Texan bands, an Austin based chocolatier, a juice company, and a brewery, and threw a party in honor of central Texas. We later organized similar parties in Brooklyn, Houston, Portland and Indianapolis. Now our eyes are on Louisville.
While all the art is not directly from Louisville, there are many artists included in this exhibition from Louisville and nearby cities.
The music for the opening consists solely of Louisville bands. We
selected them to showcase the variety of music your city is creating
on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. The goal is to celebrate the
local and regional cultural “economies” in your city.
Again, this idea of classification, of identifying and labeling, comes
into play. Taxonomy can be a tricky thing. From one angle it can be seen as a system that disassembles, separates items into neat little categories thereby uprooting them from a larger context. Taxonomy in history has also been the source of myriad forms of oppression, fear, and prejudice. But there is another thing that can happen through taxonomy. When presented as a whole, and without any oppressive hierarchies, disparate creatures and objects begin to take on a new sense of meaning, order, and unity. Similarities and differences are emphasized and the end result is a mosaic or map that is as complex as the thing it is representing. It is this complexity and mystery that early collectors and museum founders sought to capture when creating their cabinet of wonders.
For this exhibition here at the 930, Michael Winters and I had the
difficult job of selecting from a wide variety of works. While quality
and skill were definitely factors in selection, I was also interested
in representing a wide range of styles and attitudes towards the
subject matter. When a show is built around as broad a theme such as “unusual animals,” it is challenging to present a show that not only operates on the level of its parts, but also as a sum of its parts.
We could have organized a show of brown animals, or birds, or
something much more specific. This would of imparted the final show a more cohesive visual feel. But in the end we were delighted by the way these pieces complimented the curiosities and strengths in each other. The result is a show that is part text book, part catalog, and part zoo. I hope in the end it is a show that also illustrates the unusual wonder of both usual and unusual animals from all their various kingdoms, phylum, orders and species of style and representation.
