Between you and me

The artworks in between you and me by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson centre on representations and the intrinsic value of things and call into question the myriad bases upon which we construct such representations. Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson have for some time in their work been examining specific relationships between human and non-human animals — in nanoq: flat out and bluesome the polar bear, in Big Mouth the Tasmanian Tiger, in (a)fly urban pets etc. Between you and me specifically draws on a contemporary set of relationships between humans and seals, with its particular focus on the coastal areas of Iceland where interaction of one sort or another has been customary for many centuries. Because most representations are constructed to perform some agenda of our own — in the case of animals, to entertain, to inform, to provide food, to remember, to stand for all others of its species, to symbolize human behavioural characteristics etc — in this process, the animal itself is occluded — eclipsed by its avatar or likeness, which is always a simplification and therefore must accordingly signify a loss