EVELINA DEICMANE & THEO MERCIER

1978 Lives and works in Riga and Berlin
1984 Lives and works in Paris and Berlin

Tales of Human Nature. Photo, installation, 2007

Evelina Deicmane and Theo Mercier stage a poetic and terrifying photo installation about what happens to people who have been left alone. Decreasing the distinction between the culture-nature pair of opposites and bringing them almost to an overlap, the artists derive fairytale stills of a ballerina with a tree trunk for legs and other bizarre semi-human, semi-animal creatures who behave in the artificial interior like animals in the wild. Presenting these shots as trophies both glorifies these little changes in the secret human nature and celebrates a victory over them.
The trophy shields are exhibited in the House of Knighthood Knights’ Hall, where the walls were originally decorated with coats of arms of the knighthood.









Photos: Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo 2007 © Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia