CHRISTIAN JANKOWSKI

Presented as a trilogy of video pieces comprising My Life As A Dove, Director Poodle, and Flock, each piece uses magic to transform various human participants into animals.

For My Life as a Dove, Jankowski collaborated with a magician who transformed him into a dove for a duration of three weeks. The message from the magician to the audience was “You’re standing in front of Christian’s transformation into a dove...be kind to him...and remember that a real artist may sometimes be inscrutable, but a true person as well.” Visitors to the exhibition responded to Jankowski as dove, feeding him, taking his photograph, making video documentation, and keeping an ongoing journal of his activities.

In Director Poodle, Jankowski convinces a museum director to subject himself to his magic, allowing the curator to choose the kind of animal he would like to become. The result is his miraculous transformation into a boisterous white poodle.

And Flock (2002), where 12 gallery visitors were turned into sheep and remained in this state while they viewed the other artworks on display.