Two weeks ago I found myself carrying a pigs head home in a thin plastic carrier bag. I had started on my final major project and I had been looking at flesh. Through some cosmic luck, I was granted my dream of being able to photograph inside a butchers fridge upon asking one of the market traders if I could take some quick shots of the meat on display. (The guy who took me down to the freezers was stoned and totally unphased by some freak wanting to take pictures of his.. ahem.. hung meat.)
He opened one freezer and pulled out a frozen pigs head and slammed it down on the counter. Now, I'm vegetarian and while the look or feel of dead animal doesn't really bother me, the way it was handled..., just no. And so after thinking about it for two days, I decided I would buy the head and take some photographs of it and see where that took me. So I'm there, on the bus, holding this pigs head like its made of glass. I don't know, its just some weird respect thing. I cant just throw it around and have it bang around or roll across the floor. Would you do that with a human body? No.
But then there I was taking photos of it and now it (a.k.a 'Piglet') sits in my back yard, rotting away (I'll continue to photograph it as it decomposes and see how long it takes to get down to the skull. I was told by the butcher that if I wanted the skull I could just boil it. IT STILL CONTAINS BRAINS AND EYEBALLS. The smell of boiling chicken giblets from my childhood when my mum would cook them for the dog, still makes me want to wretch) and I'm almost conflicted over what I'm doing, all in the name of art. I feel in some ways disrespectful to it, like I shouldn't be getting any kind of glory out of a process, an industry that I'm against. On the other hand, the deed was already done and I'm using it to create something good or productive? I don't know.. am I being hypocritical? selective in my judgements? Its weird, I'm not sure what to make of it. Or myself.
Anyway, two weeks gone and I checked on it yesterday. The smell is hideous (I'm hoping my neighbour has a barbecue or an outside get-together soon!) and its only confirmed that I want to be cremated, no argument.
Ill hopefully post pictures of wok I develop from this, but for now, some before and afters. And warning, the afters aren't pretty but then neither is life, so deal with it.
two weeks later.....
(just to note: some of these pictures have been colour enhanced, some not. Once I get round to doing them all I will replace the unedited ones)
