EXHIBITION DETAILS

Thirty Times a Minute | Colleen Plumb

August 17 - 19, 2018

Times & Locations

August 17th Large Scale Outdoor Video Projection at CSU Campus, on the Northwest Corner of Lory Student Center, Public Welcome, 8:45 pm – 11 pm

August 18th Large Scale Outdoor Video Projection in Oak Street Plaza at 201 South College Ave, Ft. Collins, Public Welcome, Fort Collins 8:45 pm – 11 pm

August 19th Large Scale Outdoor Video Projection

STATEMENT

Animals have been collected and held as objects of fascination throughout history, with modern zoos tracing back to the middle ages as menageries. This video projection series focuses on the complexities of keeping animals in captivity and raises questions about what it means to participate as a spectator of animals.

Wild animals kept on display, often outside of their natural climates and in the center of cities, become a lesson in contradiction. Projecting videos of the animals onto urban surfaces and out-of-context landscapes interferes with public space and adds an additional layer of incongruence.

“Thirty Times a Minute” explores elephants in captivity. Since 2009, Colleen Plumb has traveled to sixty zoos in the United States and Europe, making video of elephants exhibiting what biologists refer to as stereotypic behavior, also called “weaving.” Only captive elephants exhibit weaving. 

The projected images ask if we take animals for granted when we are able to see them so easily in captivity, and when they exhibit unnatural behaviors in captivity (as is most often the case), do we accept this as normal?

The Center thanks Kurt and Amy Hoeven, Jan Nerger, and CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences for their generous support, and the Lory Student Center Arts Program for its collaboration.