The Autobiographical Animal

Valentina Gal | Frédéric Moffet | Dianne Ouellette | Bea de Visser

February 4 to March 12, 2022 [Online]

The Autobiographical Animal is an online exhibition comprising four works considering hypotheses of post-human narrative via moving image. Animals do not produce autobiography in any sense we can even begin to comprehend, so the human imagination steps in to create it. The artists in this exhibition approach an often frustrated desire for interspecies communication and equity in surprising and open-ended ways, employing the POV of the protagonists while avoiding the coercion and sentimentality of anthropomorphism—deprivileging their own status in favour of the other. Occurring on built sets and Saskatchewan prairies, in virtual environments and appropriated cinematic landscapes, these films allow for the failure of connection as well as success, accepting delusions of wildness and power, limitations of human empathy and vast possibilities of the sensory and perceptual surrounding what we know about animal consciousness.

Best of Breed

Valentina Gal | 2017 | 7 min

Good. So I was an animal, but I do not remember much about it. It is all very vague. Many things happened later that made it clear to me what type of animal I was, but I do not remember much from then. In any case, I was very elegant and soft, especially below my stomach and on the inside of my forepaws. The strongest hair doesn’t grow there, but it is the sweetest. And the cleanest. My skin meant everything to me, it was the only thing in the world that I cared for. (F. Harmsen van Beek)

Best of Breed is Valentina Gal’s investigation into the world of professional dog shows. Gal posits, that through grooming and styling, dog owners create a living sculpture which must present itself to a jury and audience in order to become Best of Breed. The living sculpture is found suitable for reproduction by breeding.

Valentina Gal graduated from ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem in 2017. She has been exhibiting regularly since. Her work has previously been shown at Garage Rotterdam, De Nederlandsche Bank, Expoplu Nijmegen, TodaysArt Festival and Art Rotterdam.

Horsey

Frédéric Moffett | 2018 | 9 min

“Horses are lucky, they’re stuck with the war same as us, but nobody expects them to be in favor of it, to pretend to believe in it.”

An allegory recycling images from the past, still relevant to the present moment.

“A seemingly straightforward exploration of the representation of masculine desire and its displacement, Horsey seamlessly weaves together footage from maligned Hollywood productions that banked on the star appeal of their male leads. Moffet constructs a narrative riddled with longing gazes and repressed desires, and the horse, come Horsey, connects these desires—the repressed, caged man and the symbol of virility, the stallion, who has been broken and tamed by society. Masterfully edited, select images weave a new narrative, but the complex sound score (also a patchwork of appropriated sources from Reflections in a Golden Eye and other material) reveals the underlying turmoil, distress and loss that the images allude to.” – Onion City Film Festival

Frédéric Moffet is a media artist, educator, editor and cultural worker. He lives between Montreal and Chicago. His work explores the slippery territory between history, lived experience and fantasy. Screenings include the Rotterdam Film Festival, National Center for Contemporary Arts (Moscow), Whitechapel Art Gallery (London), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Biennial of Moving Images (Geneva), International Film Festival Oberhausen, Golden Horse Film Festival (Taipei) and the New Museum (New York).

aen loo pawatamihk

Dianne Ouellette | 2020 | 6 min

As I walk the land with Wolves and Buffalo I reflect on my murdered Cree grandmother, and my colonized ancestors, both human and nonhuman, while honouring their memory. I also consider the historical near extinction of Wolves and Buffalo and reflect on the present-day environmental sustainability of these more-than-human beings. aen loo pawatamihk is Michif, and means Wolf dream or I dream of Wolves.

I worked on this film for over three years in partial fulfillment for my MFA in Media Production at the University of Regina. I chose to use only captured landscape audio for the soundscape so this film can be understood globally. While creating this film, I explored my Métis identity and discovered my connection with animals and the land, while honouring my ancestors.

Dianne Ouellette is an independent Métis filmmaker, multimedia artist and curator. Her films have been screened and awarded internationally. She presently works as a communications specialist and sessional instructor at the University of Regina. She completed her MFA in Media Production in 2020. She is presently Chair of the Board of Directors for Sâkêwêwak and a long-time member of the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative. Recently, she has been working with Listen to Dis’ Community Arts Organization members, facilitating people of all abilities to create digital stories through online workshops. She also collaborated with this organization to co-direct Mine To Have’s digital production; a theatre play adapted to a film during covid restrictions in 2021. Over the past two decades, she has focused her lens on family, history and identity. Sharing stories through film, video, photography, digital media, creative design and writing fulfills her passion for storytelling. Continuing to encourage others by making creative content that connects and motivates people is valuable in her artistic goals.