"Wandlung. Studie n.1"

photography b/w (analogue), handmade print on wood

signed, dated, titled (ink) on verso

In the Middle Ages, monks usually painted miraculous unicorns and dragons, described them as strong or benevolent, bound pictures and text to books and called this "bestiary". I have brought the old tradition into the present day, photographed the beautiful and bizarre analogies between man and animal, us and nature in an analogue way and worked with what dominates our everyday life in the darkroom: steel, concrete, asphalt. The result is a contemporary bestiary.
(Valentina Murabito)

The work is a study on wood for the work "Wandlung" of the series Bestiarium. The picture shows a girl with an owl and was taken on the Pfaueninsel in Berlin. In the 17th century the island was owned by the alchemist and glassmaker Johannes Kunckel, who carried out various experiments with fire and glass for the Elector. Dark clouds of smoke and pungent smells moved from the island to the mainland, causing the inhabitants there to make all sorts of assumptions about gold-making and black magic. In short, a place where "beasts" could also live.
At the beginning of the 19th century, King Friedrich Wilhelm III kept a large number of exotic animals during his summer stays on Peacock Island. This menagerie was the basis for the Berlin Zoological Garden, which was founded after his death.
(Christoph Fuchs)