Artist: Sven Sachsalber
Exhibition title: Everything has one end but the sausage 2.
Venue: Bible, New York, US
Date: April 8 – May 6, 2018
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Bible, New York
Note: List of works can be found here
We lived in trees for 30 million years. During that time and long after, we were hunted by reptilian predators: snakes. Most people are afraid of snakes and become more afraid of them as they age. Snakes are numinous animals – intrinsically meaningful because their history is intimately connected with ours. In the Bible (the book, not the gallery), an encounter with a snake causes Adam and Eve to open their eyes and see they are naked and vulnerable. They began to have problems. To this day, snakes affect how our brains function. In parts of the world with large predatory snakes, primates have more powerful vision.
Snakes are at the bottom of our fear response. You could say that to the brain, all fear resides in the primordial fear of snakes. To the brain, all problems are snakes. After discovering their own nakedness, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to cover their bodies. This is the first articulation of culture in the story of Genesis. Culture is the artifice that shelters humans from nature. Everything from loincloths to painting is stuff we invented to mask our weakness.
Sven Sachsalber was born in the Italian Alps, where Pellegrino water is bottled.
For more information, including images, pricing and available works contact the gallery at info@bedandabible.com
