This installation is a self-portrait with the artist’s female lover. Thus, it can be read as a story about symbiosis, womanhood and animalistic desire. It may be seen as trying to expunge the word “animalistic” of its negative connotations.
The title alone is an attempt to subversively overtake and reuse the symbolic that comes with the word “bitch”.
The installation is made out of animal fur, which the artist gathered from her acquaintances. Using the furs in an artistic installation did not cause the death of any of those animals – the artist gathered old, unused and unneeded furs. Animal fur and skin are not neutral. They still evoke connotations with exclusiveness and the fashion industry. On the other hand, using them causes unease due to the obvious association with death, although as a final product the fur is cleansed from the elements that remind us that somebody had to give their life for it to be created (such as claws, ears, eyes). Thus, the work can be read as a criticism of using animals needlessly. The author takes the position of an animal, voluntarily becomes depersonalized, dehumanized.
The work of art has the undertone of a clash with anthropocentrism. It is an expression of the author’s interest in non-anthropocentric ethics, posthumanism, ecofeminism, animal art. It is an installation which is tactile not only due to the material it is made from, but also due to the process of formation: the human figures were made through the process of taking plaster casts of the artist and her lover, and thus the sense of touch replaced the sense of sight.
