Weird Art Wednesday: Patricia Piccinini

If you've been anywhere on the internet in the past ten years, chances are you've seen this photo (or a version of it) used to illustrate any number of hoaxes, including those about Russian/Nazi animal-human hybrid experiments, a new form of cryptozoological creature, and my favorite---the result of a Muslim girl choosing to listen to pop music over reading her Qur'an and being transformed by an angry Allah. You can even choose this image from the menu of one of the many ghost app programs to insert into your own photographs. 

So, most sane people realize that there is nothing 'paranormal' about this creature, although it will still pop up from time to time on paranormal Facebook pages, with someone gullible enough to try passing it off as 'real' and plenty of opinions backing it up.  But, if its not really the product of a vengeful God or even of bestiality...what the heck IS IT?

It's a sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini!  It is part of a larger installation known as The Leather Landscape (2003), which was exhibited in "We Are Family" at the Venice Biennal. Piccinini is known for her strange, often almost grotesque-looking humanoid sculptures that represent a simple, yet at the same time, complex relationship between humans, animals, and the ethical questions of medical technology.  Made from silicon, polyurethane, human hair, etc., these creatures aren't meant to represent something ugly, nor despised...which is unfortunately what many of her creations have been used to illustrate in so many different hoaxes.

Links:
The Multi-Species Salon
Biennale 2003
Piccinini's Website