Zoonation

MER Paper Kunsthalle. 2006. Oblong hardcover. Good copy. Artist book by Filip Van Dingenen published as a part of the 'Zoonation' project which also included a website and an art project. On his many travels, Van Dingenen observed and analyzed the visual culture of the zoo from various historical, anthropological, typological and aesthetic angles. Zoonation studies the analogies between cultural science and artistic approaches to their subject. The book, designed by Luc Derycke, is a startling hybrid synthesis of a tourist guide for zoo visitors, a report of a cultural-historical expedition and a pseudo-scientific case study.