Shameless Venus, A 20-year-old female human has ingested a mole’s brain
2018 - Sculpture (Sculpture)
5 x 15 x 5 cm
Marguerite Humeau
This work forms part of a project that draws upon research into the use of psychoactive substances present in animal brains during the Paleolithic period. Bolstered by research by archaeologist Bethe Hagens, the artist explores the hypothesis that prehistoric shamans consumed the psychoactive parts of animal brains in order to achieve spiritual ecstasy and that the found figurines, reproduced by Marguerite Humeau, are an archival remnant of these experiences. The so-called “Venus figurines” take the form of ambiguous female forms and despite their exaggerated gendered traits, the onus is instead upon the resemblance to the ingested animal brains that led to their production. The digitally rendered figures are made of different materials, including limestone, alabaster and bronze. Shameless Venus, A 20 years old Female Human has Ingested a Mole’s Brain is the smallest of all sculptures in the series.
Marguerite Humeau’s work begins with intensive research that calls upon the expertise of various specialists including historians, anthropologists, paleontologists, zoologists, linguists or conspiracy theorists. The artist seeks not only to draw together these interdisciplinary fields and push them to their limits, but also to enrich this research through artistic processes that reconsider historiography in a way that responds to our present moment. This straddling of time and space alludes to an attempt to place different worlds in dialogue with one another, exploring the possibilities of communication and knowledge gaps. Myths and patterns within the history of mankind are central to her work, leading her to invent speculative narratives that resuscitate the past as a means of interpreting current attitudes towards life, death and technology. Spanning sound, sculpture, painting, drawing and illustration, previous projects have included the resurrection of Cleopatra’s voice and the enactment of a funeral rite for an advanced elephant herd.
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