Carrot / Stick Scenario, 2012
Liars of Earth Gallery, Thankerton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Three-screen surround-sound video installation.
Language is a slippery thing, but give a dog a bad name and it will stick.
Our relationship with animals is partly formed through the spoken word. It can be illuminating to reflect on the sense that both people and animals attempt to make of this precarious interface. The ways in which we humans understand ourselves; our motives, beliefs and desires are largely constructed through an insubstantial grip on a slippery schtick. As for the animals, it’s hard to be sure if they ever understand the sophisticated witty banter that’s lavished on them.