Installations
From the 8th of September to the 24th of November, Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana presented a comprehensive programme featuring installations, archives and performances by the participants of the edition.
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Various works (2012-2023)
- TypeInstallation
- ParticipantEva Chettle
- VenueNatural Science Museum
Installation view, 2024 © Eva Chettle. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Helena Roig
A museum is a space for narrating and conversing with history. Today, we have come to understand that history is not only subjective, but also subject to manipulation, and therefore that its form is in the eye of the beholder. One of the most prominent historical constructions is “nature”, a construction with innumerous social and cultural ramifications. Bearing this in mind, Eva Chettle creates hybrid beings that perturb the so-called “laws of nature”. From a young age, the artist has collected different elements that she finds in nature; she does so in the manner of an amateur archaeologist or treasure hunter. She then uses these elements (e.g. shells, bones, seeds, roots) to create her beings, which are simultaneously prehistoric and futuristic. Chettle refers to her beings as chimeras, referencing the mythical creature that was part lion, goat and serpent (or, in some cases, dragon). While, on first glance, her imaginative creatures seem just that – products of the imagination, in actuality, they might not be so far-fetched. Indeed, thanks to advancements in the field of genetic manipulation, organisms with multiple sets of DNA already exist. This then prompts the question: Could Chettle’s hybrid beings come to life in the near future? Alternatively, looking at them from a queer perspective: Do versions of these beings already exist, waiting to be found, accepted and even celebrated?
![Installation view, 2024 © Eva Chettle. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana _ Helena Roig. .jpg]()
Installation view, 2024 © Eva Chettle. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Helena Roig![Installation view, 2024 © Eva Chettle. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana _ Helena Roig .jpg]()
Installation view, 2024 © Eva Chettle. Photo © Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana / Helena Roig
Carnivorous plant
2023
Wood, deer jaws, goat jaws, resin, horns, sea urchin
160 × 90 × 90 cm
Trilobite
2022
Sheep skull, crab shell, fox jaws, dog vertebrae
90 × 30 × 10 cm
Arachnomarsupials
2018
Crab shell, sheep jaws, coypu skull, bird bones, hematite
30 × 30 × 20 cm
Chimaeras
2012
Wrought iron, goat skull, sacrum bone
95 × 40 × 40 cm
Pérez
2023
Rat skull, scorpion claws, crab shell, teeth, miscellaneous bones, rusted iron
21 × 10 × 10 cm
Scaraboules [Scarab beetle]
2014
Beetle, seed, ancient wood planer
36 × 10 × 14 cm
Siamoiseau [Siamese bird]
2014
Various bird bones
27 × 22 × 25 cm
Fourmi à pinces [Ant with pincers]
2015
Crab shells and claws, guinea pig skull, cow sacrum
17 × 26 × 20 cm
Duchesse
2020
Insects, bird bones, rat skull
21 × 15 × 17 cm
Poseidon
2024
Crab shells, bird bones, insects, rabbit jaws, rat tail
12 × 22 × 16 cm
Dragonfly
2016
Bird ribcage, insect, rat skull, ancient pipe
22 × 20 × 20 cm
Gigalle
2017
Crab, hen skull, insect wings, rabbit vertebraes, crayfish tail
8 × 17 × 12 cm
Courtesy of the artist
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