BLINKERS
2025
Solo Show at Milkshake Agency, Geneva
Curated by Pique-Nique Collective
BLINKERS focuses on the troubled and unique relationship between humans and horses. Since its domestication around 5,000 years ago, the horse has served a wide variety of human purposes — as a source of food, a means of transportation, and a „tool“ for work and warfare. Over the last century, it has lost its traditional function in the work, mobility and war section, while the global equestrian sports market has rapidly expanded. Today, this market has an estimated global value of 300 billion USD.
Hardly any other animal body ignites human fantasies of power and excess as much as that of the horse. Whether through the cloning of award-winning sport horses or the genetic modification of their DNA in the hope of making them even more high-performing, horses serve as a testing ground for experiments that would be ethically unacceptable on the human body. From birth to reproduction to their „disposal“, the life of a sport horse is regulated and monitored by human power and interests. The horse thus becomes a place where human desires, the lust for power, and economic value meet and condense.
Top-Condition is inspired by horseshoes, which help domesticated horses walk on hard terrain when their hooves are unshod. While wild horses do not rely on any hoof-wear, these tools can be seen as a consequence of domestication, which has made domestic horses dependent on human care. The shape of Top-Condition reflects that of sports shoes and gadgets, drawing an analogy between sports equipment and the role of sport horses—often perceived as „sports devices“ that can and must be enhanced rather than as conscious, complex non-human beings.
As a Kid, a Horse Once Bit Me on the Chest While I Was Wearing a Shirt with Flowers on It. Horses See a Dichromatic Color Spectrum from Yellowish to Bluish — Guess the Colors of the Flowers plays with the assumption that the exercise of human power is manifested through its trivialization. The playful depiction and imitation of animals in the form of toys are subtly transformed into tools that inevitably embed power dynamics into early education.
Tools of Power takes the form of classic blinkers, which are seldom omitted when handling horses. The primary purpose of blinkers is to restrict the horse‘s exceptionally wide field of vision, reducing distractions during certain activities and blocking its view of the rear. On the other hand, blinkers are meant to protect the horse‘s eyes from whip lashes, which, due to the restricted rear view, the animal cannot anticipate. The deliberate control and limitation of vision thus become essential tools for exerting power.
