ZOO
I often imagine archivists as animal tamers, locked in a constant struggle to tame mountains of ferociously disorganized data and bring about some order. As a collector and amateur archivist, I have always been drawn to those who have attempted to archive and catalogue the impossible. These two thoughts have culminated into an obsession with the zoo. I even love the way we refer to all zoos as simply “the zoo” – as if it is more an unobtainable ideal rather than a physical place. These bizarre living archives have a complicated history originating in royalty displaying their wealth and grip over foreign lands by dominating their wildlife. In time it has transformed into institutions that teeter between education and entertainment.
August Sander. Showman Performing With Bear in Cologne. 1923
Judging zoos is extremely difficult for me, as I have found them to possess a multitude of complex pros and cons. They tend to fall somewhere between committing to educate while rehabilitating animals to viewing the creatures as a source of income in their living theme park. No matter where on this gradient they fall, ultimately they are boiling down the vast animal kingdom into the length of a pleasant afternoon stroll. Although this is futile in theory, the outcome is simultaneously upsetting and absolutely wondrous.