Activity RatKind. Paradise Lost

RatKind. Paradise Lost

Photography and video, 2018 – today

In her series RatKind. Paradise Lost, Bonnie Baxter asks the viewer to project themselves into a utopian/dystopian future where a community of humanoid rats have supplanted human beings.

Her presentation encourages us to overcome our fear and hatred of the rat, a feeling of dread that is deeply rooted in our subconscious, and therefore move beyond our preconceived notions and prejudices. The physical proximity of rats to humans and our shared social behaviours make them a mirror image of our own existence.

RatKind. Paradise Lost presents itself as an antidote to growing inequality, human rights issues and today’s environmental crisis.

Within the theme of the emergence of a community that managed to survive a human-induced ecological disaster, students, artists and members of marginalized communities, as models and actors, imagine a society based on empathy and respect for all living creatures independently of their level of sensitivity or of their culture, including a feeling of goodwill towards nature.

The majority of this series’ items were created in the artist’s spectacular gardens at her home in Val-David.

Curator : Marie Perrault