The End
(2020)
Medium
silicone rubber, nylon (flock), silicone paint, plastic, fibreglass, brass, aluminium, steel, composition board, electronic components, electrical components, existing wall, sound
Measurements
13.0 × 36.0 × 20.5 cm (variable) (installation) 16 min 24 sec (animation and audio)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased NGV Foundation and Suzanne Dawbarn Bequest, 2022
© Ryan Gander; Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Ryan Gander’s experimental practice can be understood as a compilation of clues staged by the artist for the viewer to solve. ‘The great potential of art is its ability to remain open, and to resist closure’, explains the artist.
In The End, the final work in a trilogy of animatronic mice, Gander calls into question the age we live in. The artist speculates existential and philosophical ideas through an animatronic mouse sculpture voiced by one of his young daughters. Drawing parallels between construction and storytelling, Gander’s work invites an intriguing and playful opportunity to reckon with some of the biggest ideas that face humanity: climate change, the effects of our technology-led age and ‘the end’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Edition
ed. 3/3
Inscription
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen on rear u.r.: ED3
Accession Number
2022.791
Department
Contemporary Art