Case Study of the Museum of Extinction
Thylacinus Cynocephalus, a marsupial from Australia commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, was declared extinct in 1936. It is an example of how a legend is established between reality, fiction and popular myth.
The artist’s interest in the Tasmanian tiger began in Australia, during his residency at the University of Western Sydney, NEPEAN in 1993. On an outing to the Tasmanian School of Art while visiting the island, Muntadas found a beer with a Tasmanian tiger on the label.
This became a recurrent image that he researched. He read documents and visited the Museum of Natural History and learned that in 1936 it was considered extinct.
On the other hand, it was alive in the same way that it was on the beer label: it was alive in the imagination of all the people who spoke about it. Nobody had seen it.
Credit: tom mesic
Credit: tom mesic
Credit: tom mesic
This project is a new production of the .NewArt { foundation;} in collaboration with the Hac Te and a special participation of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology and the Barcelona Institut of Bioenineering of Catalonia.
