The Melodious Malfeasance Meat-Grinding Machine, 2014

Dana Sherwood - New York, USA

Installation

The sound of the carnival fills the air. Musicians are playing unusual music: the sound of grinding meat, the hunt and the circus. This gypsy caravan and the scene within give the impression to passersby of seeing behind the scenes of the circus while witnessing the intimate spectacle of a single performer…a glimpse behind the glitter and tinsel.

The exterior is adorned with the tools of the butcher: saws, knives, cleavers and mallets.

The interior scene is a kitchen, strewn and spangled with equipment and utensils, sausages hang from the ceiling, animal carcasses and body parts are suspended by great hooks and chains.

Behold the act of making sausages as they are transformed from raw flesh to delectable sustenance. The action inside is of a single performer stuffing and hanging the sausages. An image of this action is projected in real time allowing the audience to experience it up close. This technique of economy and preservation is scarcely used in home kitchens today, but preserved meat is the staple of the backpacker, the revolutionary, the wanderer and the gypsy. It is a food best prepared in a slow manner and is ill-suited to rush. The time-based nature of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is an ideal frame for the kind of preparation involved in making such delicacies as these.

Born in New York in 1977, Dana Sherwood's work examines the blurring of boundaries between human and non-human animals in the intersection of the natural and the material worlds. Her work regards notions of abundance through a visual representation of excess and decadence, and reflects an opulent society in decline.

Since receiving her BFA from the University of Maine in 2004, her work has been featured in major exhibitions throughout North America and Europe including The Biennial of Western New York and Prospect 2 New Orleans.

102

Renaissance Toronto Downtown Hotel Parkette

1 Blue Jays Way (Parkette in front of the Hotel)

This project is outdoors.