If a horse is confined to a stable for a long period of time it will begin to weave its head from side to side in the shape of infinity. Without release a weaving horse will suffer self-inflicted injuries as loneliness is slowly metabolised into a stoop. Placing a mirror in the stable calms a weaving horse. The horse doesn’t recognise itself in the mirror, what it sees are the gestures of other horses reflected back as the intimacy of a herd. A pink wetness of a nose, ripples along a neck and the gentle jogging of a head comfort the solitary animal. I assume all this, as there’s no way of knowing what a horse sees in a mirror.
How to recognise a Widow, Horse in a mirror, Private cup is a series of three emblems commissioned by Public Art Scotland and Creative Scotland. The emblems were a response to an invitation to think about public visual languages in relation to the academic study of emblems. How to recognise a Widow, Horse in a mirror, Private cup is printed as an edition of posters with an accompanying introduction to public art by Ruth Barker, Producer, Public Art Scotland and a short essay entitled, In Silentium introducing the origins of the emblem, the form of the emblemata triplex and the function of the emblem in the Early Modern World by Dr Laurence Grove, Glasgow University.
This work was then edited and adapted into an installation at Gallerie Deadfly, Berlin. How to recognise a Widow… formed part of the opening exhibition along with work by Benjamin DeBurca, Nam Chau, Maurice Doherty, Jürgen Grewe, Rebecca Loyche, David Sherry and Victoria Skogsberg.
How to recognise a Widow, Horse in a mirror, Private cup