BAIT

Overview

In Bait, awkward parallels are drawn between environmental and sexual violence. Central is a range of anthropomorphous characters voicing their conflicting perspectives on consent and complicity. An adaptation of Millais' Ophelia comes back to life through karaoke. A white male default 3D avatar generates empty buzzwords to apologize for being involved in issues of harassment. A singing ensemble of oysters share their concerns about the abuse of power, allegorically hinting at their gendered, art-historical, and ecological connotations. The Aquatic Apes are depicted as otherworldly mid-evolution creatures with sexualized and animalistic features, and vocalized dolphin-like sounds translated into subtitles. Connecting all characters is the reference to water as a unifying element, exposing its undeniable sexual, biological, and environmental interpretations.

Puck Verkade