YOU CAN’T BURY WHAT IS LOST, WHEN THE WORLD GROWS SMALLER
Graphite, cotton paper, erased residue, wood (2024)
Public engagement installation in Hillstreet Shopping Centre, Middlesbrough as part of Middlesbrough Art Week. Audiences are invited to erase a large scale drawing of a European Bison looking back out at the viewer. Produced over 3 months, the meticulously draw detailed non-human presents an animal once on the brink of extinction, like many around the world. The audience were asked - how do you feel about the eradication of non-human animals? Will you continue to contribute to their disappearance. Audiences are invited to erase the drawing over the duration of the festival. This act highlights the urgent need for conservation and for humans to foster a deeper connection with nature.
Animals were the first thing we drew, and have been represented in art for centuries, however, with the growing loss and disappearance of non-human animals their representation has taken on a new significance. An estimate 150-200 species go extinct a day, indicating an urgent need for conservation and re-wilding. Britain is one of the most nature depleted nations in the world. The European Bison, once free roaming across Europe, was extinct in the wild in 1919. They have since been brought back from a small number in collections and Zoos. They were introduced to Britian in 2022.the drawing over the duration of the festival. This act highlights the urgent need for conservation and for humans to foster a deeper connection with nature.
Amy Dover’s work examines the diminishing presence of non-human animals in our world and the cultural exploitation that reduces them to mere products. For Middlesbrough Art Week, Dover has drawn a bison; an animal which has just recently been rewilded in the UK. Audiences are invited to erase the drawing over the duration of the festival. This act highlights the urgent need for conservation and for humans to foster a deeper connection with nature.
Instructions:
Take an eraser to erase as little or a much of the Bison as you like.
You can make as little or as much of an impact as you want. The artist takes full responsibility for all damages to the bison.
“Nearly one in six species are threatened with extinction from Great Britain”
“Wildlife in England has declined in abundance by 32% on average since 1970”
“13% are classified as threatened with extinction”
The State of Nature Report 2023
How do you feel about the eradication of non-human animals? Will you continue to contribute to their disappearance. Animals were the first thing we drew, and have been represented in art for centuries, however, with the growing loss and disappearance of non-human animals their representation has taken on a new significance. An estimate 150-200 species go extinct a day, indicating an urgent need for conservation and re-wilding. Britain is one of the most nature depleted nations in the world. The European Bison, once free roaming across Europe, was extinct in the wild in 1919. They have since been brought back from a small number in collections and Zoos. They were introduced to Britian in 2022.
