Extinct Animals (Japanese Honshu Wolf), 2018
Plaster of Paris, cast from the artist's hands whilst performing the extinct animal's shadow
10 x 24 x 7 cm
4 x 9 1/2 x 2 3/4 in
4 x 9 1/2 x 2 3/4 in
MC0229
Copyright The Artist
This sculpture is an individual and unique artwork. This pose has also been re-performed and cast as a contributing part of a full set of 16, which has been designated...
This sculpture is an individual and unique artwork. This pose has also been re-performed and cast as a contributing part of a full set of 16, which has been designated by the artist to be a separate and unique artwork.
The collection of cast hands depicts different animal species whose extinctions were caused by humans. The artist has cast his own hands in poses that playfully recreate an approximation of the animal in shadow. They are a memorial but also remnants of a detached and futile resurrection.
The Japanese Wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax) is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf that was once endemic to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū in the Japanese archipelago. It is also known as the Honshū wolf. Its binomial name derives from the Greek Hodos (path) and phylax (guardian), in reference to Japanese folklore, which portrayed wolves as the protectors of travellers. It was one of two subspecies that were once found in the Japanese archipelago, the other being the Hokkaidō wolf. Skeletal remains of the Japanese wolf have been found in archaeological sites, such as Torihama shell mound, dating from the Jōmon period (10,000 to 250 B.C).
In 713, the wolf first appeared on record in Kofudoki itsubun (Lost writings on ancient customs). From 967, historical records indicated the wolf's preference for preying on horse, either wild horses or those in pastures, stables, and villages. In 1701, a lord introduced the first wolf bounty and by 1742 the first professional wolf hunters were using firearms and poison.[32] In 1736, rabies appeared among dogs in eastern Japan, indicating that it had entered from China or Korea, then spread across the nation. Shortly after it spread to the wolf population, turning some wolves from simple horse predators to man-killers that lead to organized wolf hunts.[33] Killing wolves became a national policy under the Meiji Restoration, and within one generation the Japanese wolf was extinct.[34]
The collection of cast hands depicts different animal species whose extinctions were caused by humans. The artist has cast his own hands in poses that playfully recreate an approximation of the animal in shadow. They are a memorial but also remnants of a detached and futile resurrection.
The Japanese Wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax) is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf that was once endemic to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū in the Japanese archipelago. It is also known as the Honshū wolf. Its binomial name derives from the Greek Hodos (path) and phylax (guardian), in reference to Japanese folklore, which portrayed wolves as the protectors of travellers. It was one of two subspecies that were once found in the Japanese archipelago, the other being the Hokkaidō wolf. Skeletal remains of the Japanese wolf have been found in archaeological sites, such as Torihama shell mound, dating from the Jōmon period (10,000 to 250 B.C).
In 713, the wolf first appeared on record in Kofudoki itsubun (Lost writings on ancient customs). From 967, historical records indicated the wolf's preference for preying on horse, either wild horses or those in pastures, stables, and villages. In 1701, a lord introduced the first wolf bounty and by 1742 the first professional wolf hunters were using firearms and poison.[32] In 1736, rabies appeared among dogs in eastern Japan, indicating that it had entered from China or Korea, then spread across the nation. Shortly after it spread to the wolf population, turning some wolves from simple horse predators to man-killers that lead to organized wolf hunts.[33] Killing wolves became a national policy under the Meiji Restoration, and within one generation the Japanese wolf was extinct.[34]
