Abstract

Dogs Dinner

Dogs Dinner is an artwork that references the human consumption of dog meat globally where currently there are 21 known countries. The artwork consists of a readymade antique ceramic meat platter circa 1870 and readymade dog figurine. Ready-mades have been employed within the work to invoke familiar reference, for example a functional meat plater and ceramic ornament. In addition, the readymade has been utilised as part of a sustainable working practice that is employed by the artist. Within the artwork the platter meat juice channels have been rendered blood red and the countries referenced as backstamps which are to be traditionally found on functional ceramics but absent from view. Mirror is purposefully used as a method of exposure and one also of reflection. Whilst reading the backstamps through the mirror the viewer is also caught in the act of reflection.

Does my bum look big in this?

Does my bum look big in this? consists of a life-size readymade ceramic ornament of a Yorkshire Terrier dog wearing a hand-knitted coat emblazoned with the slogan ‘Does my bum look dig in this?’. The readymade has been utilised as part of a sustainable working practice that is employed by the artist. The life-size ornament presents a familiar reference point in which to engage the viewer in a sense of reality enhanced by the actuality of the knitted functional garment. This artwork is a socio-political commentary on the commodification of animals in contemporary society and speaks to emerging debates around interspecies communication and the formal recognition of animals as sentient beings by several countries. The use of textual humour is crucial to the conceptual underpinning of the work and proffers craft material as political through subversive familiar presentation.