The Red-Eyed Dogs
October 30, 2021 – May 15, 2022
The Red-Eyed Dogs at the Cotton Factory (Bomuldsfabriken) Art Hall, Arendal, Norway
Inghild found a red-eyed dog souvenir at the market in Brazil in the mid-nineties and realised that this graceful dog would prove to be an archetype in the knick-knack industry when she found similar figures in both Italy and Russia. During her stay in São Paulo, she began to develop the idea of enlarging this archetype of the dog and Madonna figures into a monumental format. Her interest focused on the popular distribution of the objects and their ritual and religious function. How do souvenirs take on the function of vessels for emotions, idealisation, and worship? And how are the visual design and imprint of mass production reflected in the figures when they are enlarged?
Then, the souvenir might just be forgotten and left to degrade.
The fragmentation and gradual disintegration of the Red-Eyed Dogs sculptures may symbolise unrest. It may also represent an aspect of transience, that something is breaking, shattering or being laid in ruins. Their red eyes sound the alarm, alluding to suffering, protest and unrest.
