The hall of extinction in the grande gallérie d'évolution is a particularly sobering place. Here, the power of taxidermy is put to its best use, by illustrating the beauty of the living who are long gone dead. The dark wooden cabinets are sombrely lit, so that as if peering from beyond, the viewer meets the eyes of a dodo, a quagga or a bubal hartebeest. The iridescent wings from a cabinet of butterflies quickly attract the attention. A particular favourite of the naturalist explorer, the sheer number of these immobilised specimens makes you wonder whether they would have avoided extinction were they to have escaped the mouth of the net.
Surrounded by all of this death, imagine then, the shock of the viewer at seeing the delicate wings of one of the butterflies fold in and out, like a ghost of its former self. Anamatronic trickery accompanied by the artist's statement challenges us to reassess our relationship with the tomb.
"And I don't feel any sorrow
One museum
Hundreds of specimens
Once living
One museum
One specimen
Still living"
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