The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris

'Under normal conditions,in their natural habitats, wild animals do not mutilate themselves,masturbate, attack their offspring, develop stomach ulcers, become fetishists, suffer from obesity, form homosexual pair-bonds, or commit murder. Among human city-dwellers, needless to say, all of these things occur. Does this,then, reveal a basic difference between the human species and other animals? At first glance it seems to do so. But this is deceptive. Other animals do behave in these ways under certain circumstances,namely when they are confined in the unnatural conditions of captivity. The zoo animal in a cage exhibits all these abnormalities that we know so well from our human companions. Clearly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.'

arty farty

My work has totally taken a turn for 3-D. I am blown away by how much I have enjoyed using paper mache and paper to make things. Both the woman and the fish seen below are made using paper mache,the difference being that the fish was made from scratch and I used a doll as a base for the woman but completely changed the way her limbs were moving. There will be a fish tank with suspending people inside and the fish will be sat in some kind of armchair in a set up living room. It's kind of an installation-y piece. Originally,both models were going to be quite small but I knew the first thing the tutors were going to say is "have you thought about making it bigger?". Maybe I'm just cynical,but it seems to be the main piece of advice that they dish out in crits and seminars.

There is a kind of meaning and intention behind this work but I want people to work it out for themselves. I can't wait to set it all up. It's well fun!

This is Pablo the fish with a cup of tea and unfinished cardboard glasses,he is yet to have his pipe or armchair.

and here's my woman. She has no name and she is now painted with fully fledged boobies and a nicer face. She is yet to be suspended in a fish tank.

Once it's all been set up,i'm going to take piccies and put em on zee blog.

Exciting stuff!