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The End of eating Everything
The End of eating Everything
© Wangechi Mutu. Still courtesy of the artist.

The End of eating Everything

Artist (Born in Nairobi, Kenya, 1972)
Date2013
MediumAnimated video (color, sound), 8:00 minutes
Dimensions8:00 minutes
ClassificationsVideo
Credit LineMuseum purchase. Commissioned by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Object number2013.12.1
Collections
  • MODERN & CONTEMPORARY
Edition6 + 2 AP
State1
Label TextWangechi Mutu’s first-ever animated video critiques society’s gluttonous consumption and over-indulgence. The central character is a magical, destructive, mothership creature, played by the like-minded musical performer and recording artist Santigold. Santigold collaborated with Mutu by acting out the role of the extraordinary planet-like being. It is her head with moving Medusa-like hair that we see at the helm of the great organism. Covering her massive body are waving arms, flailing tentacles, spinning wheels, and smoke-emitting spores that churn out polluting clouds like factory chimneys. As she encounters a flock of black birds, she cannot resist the urge to eat them to satisfy her voracious appetite. Blood spills, birds perish and the overstuffed creature eventually implodes in a cloud of smoke. As the grey cloud lifts, a new day dawns and the creature emits a new generation of hatchlings. In the end the numerous hungry mouths win out over the unhealthy consuming entity.
ProvenanceGladstone Gallery acquired the work directly from the artist (2013).