Between you and me

Between you and me is a visual art project that on the face of it explores human relationships to the seal, an animal widely appropriated in Western culture for a variety of human representations and emotions. For the purpose of our enquiry, we have focused mainly on this animal within a specific geographical context, allowing us to draw attention to (some of) these perspectives in an attempt to distinguish and separate the animal from its representations. It is this struggle or non-correspondence that lies at the heart of between you and me. The relationships between its components and the challenges each component presents to the others constitute the substance of the work. Ultimately, whilst encompassing issues as broad as semiotics, compassion, empathy and subjection, it tests the fallibility of representations and our unreliable dependency upon them.