Sculptors Tim Noble and Sue Webster use metal scraps, taxidermied animals, and other detritus to create immensely foreboding scenes hidden within unassuming silhouettes. For example, that sculpture at top — British Wildlife (2000) — consists of "88 taxidermy animals; 46 birds (35 varieties), 40 mammals (18 varieties), [and] 2 fish." Another silhouette piece transforms synthetic sex organs into lopped-off heads (NSFW). The designers admit that their artwork possesses a Rorschach-like quality:
Tim Noble and Sue Webster take ordinary things including rubbish, to make assemblages and then point light to create projected shadows which show a great likeness to something identifiable including self-portraits. The art of projection is emblematic of transformative art. The process of transformation, from discarded waste, scrap metal or even taxidermy creatures to a recognizable image, echoes the idea of 'perceptual psychology' a form of evaluation used for psychological patients. Noble and Webster are familiar with this process and how people evaluate abstract forms.
Many of these forms are not Ned Stark-approved. Here's a sampling of the duo's semi-dystopic shadows:
The Gamekeeper's Gibbet (2011)
Dark Stuff (2008), which is made of "189 mummified animals (67 field mice, 5 adult rats, 42 juvenile rats, 44 garden shrews, 1 fox, 1 squirrel, 1 weasel, 13 carrion crows, 7 jackdaws, 1 blackbird, 1 sparrow, 1 robin, 1 toad, 1 gecko, 3 garden snail shells." Here's an interview with the British Museum about this piece.
Metal Rats Fucking (2006)
Falling Apart (2001)
Miss Understood and Mr. Meanor (1997)
The Original Sinners (2000), which is made of fake fruit.
A Hole (2005)
Kiss of Death (2003), "34 taxidermy animals (6 rats, 1 mink, 8 carrion crows, 8 rooks, 11 jackdaws)."
You can see more shadow silhouettes at Webster and Noble's website.
[Via My Modern Met]
