120 CANADIAN A RT • SPRING 2016adaptations of any animal. In Vickerd’s version, his animal core is laid bare.
The sculpture is entirely made up of taxidermy animals, with the only
suggestion of a human form in its verticality and height. The work’s title
is a specific allusion for some, but for those of us who aren’t part of the
comic-book world, Animalman still resonates with all sorts of imaginings,
conjectures and implications.
Vickerd pulls heroes from mythologized episodes in history into the
gallery, but with a twist of the unexpected that loosens the moorings of
assumed narratives. The bronze-and-steel sculpture Monument to the FirstBrandon Vickerd Columbus
2 012 Basswood 1.37 m x
3 0.4 cm x 3 0.4 cmAmerican in Space (2 014) shows a rhesus monkey’s skull inside
a NASA spacesuit. Many primates, including the first astro-
naut, were sent into space, not just as passive occupants
to test biological limits but also as trained operators. This
artwork is also a monument to the absurdity and tragedy
of the notion of human exceptionalism. The feeling of
righteous anger at injustice that Vickerd’s work conveys
can be summed up by the motto carved into the bust of
Napoleon in the Faltering Monuments series (2 012). It reads
“Futuis hoc cacas” or “Fuck this shit.”
But as Vickerd tells us this, he also orchestrates Dance of
the Cranes (2009/15), performances of illuminated construc-
tion machinery moving in synchronized patterns against the
darkening sky. The dance draws out the potential for grace
from these enormous pieces of heavy equipment and accen-
tuates the finesse required to operate them. A spectacle for
the viewer, it is simultaneously a tribute to the crane operators
themselves. This connection is “as important to [Vickerd] as
feedback from the artist community.”
Vickerd demonstrates respect for skilled workers. The
refinement with which he executes his work is an ethical as
well as an aesthetic consideration. In part, it’s a way of
honouring the motorcycle fabricators, auto-body workers,
taxidermists and metal workers whose expertise Vickerd has
learned from in developing his own process. His work is
deeply rooted in subcultures, such as heavy metal, skate-
boarding, motorcycles and “the romance of machine mech-
anics,” as well as the world of comic books and superheroes.
Multiple perspectives converge in Vickerd’s sculptures, installations and
public artworks. He undermines established “truths” and assumptions by
using humorous twists and ambiguous, mixed and metamorphized
monstrous figures. We are drawn in by pristine craftsmanship and attention
to detail. Once engaged, we realize that all is not as it seems, and our perspec-
tive shifts, provoking new ways of seeing and thinking that emphasize
interconnections rather than dichotomies. ■Pearl Van Geest is winner of the 2015 Canadian Art Writing Prize.Vickerd_ spr16_16TSLR.indd 120 02/04/16 12:21 PM