Abbas Akhavan

Fatigues, 2014

© Abbas Akhavan • Photo: Paul Litherland

Abbas Akhavan, Fatigues, © Abbas Akhavan • Photo: Paul Litherland

© Abbas Akhavan • Photo: Paul Litherland

Abbas Akhavan, Fatigues, © Abbas Akhavan • Photo: Paul Litherland

© Abbas Akhavan • Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay

Abbas Akhavan, Fatigues, © Abbas Akhavan • Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
Artist
Abbas Akhavan
Title
Fatigues
Dimensions and medium
Mounted animals, 3 elements (White-tailed deer, American red fox, North American porcupine), Variable dimensions
Artwork description
Produced by La Biennale de Montréal, Fatigues is an installation by Abbas Akhavan composed of taxidermied animals in poses reminiscent of their death. Fixed in perpetual lifelessness, the various birds and mammals positioned inconspicuously within the Musée d’art contemporain’s galleries during La Biennale de Montréal 2014, L’avenir (looking forward), startled by their presence, rendering their status as works of art even more uncertain. Avoiding dramatization, Akhavan points to the precariousness of life rather than the inevitability of death, and seeks to trigger empathy within the viewer. This body of work is deliberately installed in dimly lit corners and other peripheral spaces of the museum, with no accompanying labels or didactic panels. The animals in the installation were not sourced from the fur trade or trapped as game. With the exception of the white-tailed deer, which was hunted for consumption, the mammals died of natural causes or were killed by vehicles on the road, and the birds died from colliding with buildings.

See Also

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Porn (from Glow Video Series), 2005, Colour DVD, silent, 15 min, and monitors, 1/5.
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Icarus (La Récolte), 2011, Inkjet print on polypropylene banner, furniture, REGA P1 turntable, 33 rpm vinyl record, drawing on panel, metal disc, and vertical blinds.
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Christine Davis, Not I/Pas moi, 2006-2007 Not I/Pas moi, 2006-2007, Diaporama loop projected on a suspended screen of buttons, 2 suspended mirrors, 18 min.
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Les Tables de sable III (haute, rouge, rompue), 1995, Plywood, wood, acrylic, lacquer, varnish, sand, and 4 silver prints, 1/1.
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still EAST of Soliloquy, 1999, 16 mm colour film transferred on 2 DVDs, 2 screens, sound, 17 min 33 s., 5/6.
Shirin Neshat, Soliloquy, 1999 still EAST of Soliloquy, 1999, 16 mm colour film transferred on 2 DVDs, 2 screens, sound, 17 min 33 s., 5/6.
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