The Shadow of a Quiet Little Life

Graphite, cotton paper, erased residue, glass specimen bottle, brass and wood stand, museum specimen and video. (2025)

A toad begins to vanish, not in the wild, but from a drawing. A fragile act which mirrors ecological loss. What remains is a ghostly trace, a fragile imprint of what was; like the specimen of a once living animal. The erased shavings, collected in a specimen bottle to form a new record, the remains of an extinction.

Beside it is a preserved toad from the museum’s collection standing as a silent witness. Together, these elements speak of the role of humanities hand in documenting and erasing the natural world. The act of erasure, both literal and symbolic, underscores the fragility of what could be lost forever.

Erased in front of a live audience.

Palazzo Poggi June 2025

A Scientific Encounter: The Complex 

Reimagines historical scientific objects as catalysts for new ways of seeing and thinking and uses artistic imagination to uncover latent meanings and challenge linear/teleological narratives of scientific progress. It also acts also as a “rearview mirror” on the evolution of knowledge, reflecting shifts in material culture embracing a philosophical turn redefining object-subject relationships, revitalizing the role of material culture in natural sciences.

By engaging with these collections through an object-oriented lens, artists liberate their latent potential, recontextualizing them for contemporary discourse.

CURATORS: Gino Gianuizzi is an independent researcher and teaches Urban and Spatial Intervention Design at Bologna’s Academy of Fine Arts.

Wolfgang Weileder is an artist and Professor of Contemporary Sculpture in Newcastle University’s Fine Art programs. He directs the PhD seminar series in Fine Arts and oversees international exchanges for the department.

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ONCE THERE WAS A BEAR HERE