la chat grenouille
several versions of a cat-frog from the bestiary of raimundas malašauskas
The method of psycho-diagnostics based on inkblot reading was developed by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach in 1921. Known as the Rorschach test it still remains among the 10 main psychological tests worldwide used in identifying personality characteristics and the state of mental health.
Hermann Rorschach (1884 – 1922) was also an accomplished artist whose drawings and water-colors expressed his interest in the ambiguity of images before he turned it into a method of psycho-diagnostics. Among various creatures he depicted was La Chat Grenouille, a creature ‘fluctuating’ between a cat and a frog. Its face is hidden from us, yet its back belongs to cat and frog at the same time.
Fascinated by the multiple ambiguities of an image, Raimundas Malašauskas asked some artists to make copies of the cat-frog for his bestiary*. His interest was to instigate individual interpretations of copy-making, however dealing with the cat-frog brought on issues of symmetry, psycho-diagnostics and economy. The spectrum of results ranges from sculptures to paintings and to a song.
A specially curated self-portrait of Malašauskas taken by Alexandre Guirkinger will join the company of the cat-frogs made by Fia Backström, Pierre Bismuth, Judith Braun, Liudvikas Buklys, Céline Butaye, Etienne Chambaud, Audrey Cottin, Mariana Castillo Deball, Jason Kalogiros, Pierre Leguillon, Nicholas Matranga, John Menick, Aurélien Mole, Milena Muzquiz, Elena Narbutaite and by an unknown artist.
*Malašauskas’ bestiary contains creatures that didn’t necessary follow natural evolution laws, but were created or befriended by artists. “My bestiary stems from a crypto-museological interest in imaginary animals like unicorn or thought figures like Schrödinger’s Cat or unnamed, uncategorised, not yet discovered creatures. Remember when Master Shake of Aqua Teen Hunger Force accidentally created Hand Banana, the dog, by dipping his hand into Carl’s pool? These type of creatures are there” he explains (conversation with Jonas Zakaitis, Spike 24 – 2010).
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