Halli Kallio

I was very taken by Reconstructing the Animal exhibition which I visited a few times this month. The exhibition, featuring constructed and taxidermy animals has definitely fit into my current interests. As mentioned before I have been examining taxidermy techniques to getting my creature more believable and to the point where I see it visually. I also liked the message behind the exhibition in a more general sense, the relationship between us and animals and the increased threat to the animal kingdom through global warming. As a general topic this has always interested me greatly as I primarily take animals as inspiration in my work.

Their were definitely pieces in the gallery I thought related to my major project. Most notably Harri Kallio's From the Dodo and Mauritius Island, Imaginary encounters. Kallio built and constructed life-sized Dodo's and placed them on the Mauritius, the island of which the birds once naturally resided. Dodo's came to their extinction by hunting and no actual photos of the actual creatures exist. Kallio has brought these birds back to life and given us the gift through a series of photos giving us a sense how it would've been to actually see them. I found the project very intriguing not only technically but also the concepts behind the work itself.

Of the prints this was my favourite and the one I found most alive. Some of the images looked a bit too constructed and the birds didn't look naturally posed so that was one weak aspect of the work. I'm imagining because the reconstruction had such heavy armature that they were a challenge to balance.

But overall the work pretty though out and the photos as well as the armature itself were aesthetically beautiful.