Sad Wolf
2006
custom-made HD video projector, HD video
projector size: 4 × 2 × 4 ft
custom-made HD video projector, HD video
projector size: 4 × 2 × 4 ft
Sad Wolf consists of a DIY high-definition digital projector built following plans posted on the Internet then used to play a video of a wolf in a zoo. The video camera follows the wolf, one of the lowest in its hierarchy, as it tries to hang out with the rest of the pack in the enclosure.
The installation was built for my first solo show with a gallerist. I was interested in drawing parallels between the zoo exhibit, the homemade projector and the circumstances of exhibiting art commercially. In each case, there is a kind of mimesis. The wolf enclosure mimics the wild situation of the pack, yet we still see ‘real’ wolf behavior. The projector actually projects digital video, yet it too is a copy, both from an Internet plan and of a real commercial projector. An exhibition in a commercial gallery is a real representation of an artist’s practice, but the context also influences this practice.