The Naked Ape - C.I.R.K.A. Spanien19C, Aarhus. November 2008.

Press release: “The installation - The Naked Ape - C.I.R.K.A. (Center for Infrahuman Research, Kommunikation og Analyse), appears to be a peripheral, and possibly completely forgotten science laboratory or research facility. The installation provides a framework for the various works of the exhibition - works that casts a glance at the man's complex and sometimes intricate relationship with animals.

The exhibition title, ‘The Naked Ape - C.I.R.K.A.’ refers to representations of the world’s coherence and the origin of species in popular science. Through a burlesque and at times enigmatic discourse, the exhibition ask fundamental questions about the way human beings perceive and interact with the animals, a topic that, among other things are reflected in virtue of the way the animal is represented in art, religion and science throughout history - From mythological visions of sphinxs and gryphons of medieval conceptions of remote nation’s citizens as one-legged hybrids of animals and humans, to modern man's emotional relations to pets.

The works examine not only the humanization of animals, but also discusses society's relationship to science. In a time where science and research no longer have the authority they previously had, and where research is up for general discussion and is subject to grant-awarding authorities' cost-benefit analyzes and temporary attention, the exhibition examines how knowledge is created, established and promoted."

The work was done in collaboration with Lasse Krog Møller and the exhibition is supported by Statens Kunstråd.