Tiffany Duong

Gimme Paw

A grotesque play scene with a Littlest Pet Shop dog and a Polly Pocket doll, based on antagonistic dogs in film such as Cujo and kennel-thing (from 'The Thing').

“I was always afraid of dogs. Big dogs, small dogs - one bark and I was clicking my heels wishing for home. Even as a kid, a part of me knew that it was an animal. You can treat it with as much love and kindness as you should or like, but an animal is an animal and shouldn’t be contained. Domestication of an animal, especially a wild one, bears resemblance to colonial and patriarchal conquest. Slaughter and enslave a race of people only to turn around and pretend you’re its saviour. Bind a woman to expectations of Mother, Lover, Daughter, Wife - tameness, passiveness, submissiveness. Getting her accustomed to be your pet.Animals aren’t tethered to concepts of morality in the same way, if at all, as the human consciousness. Yet, those that engage with the animalistic instincts natural to them - untamed, unfriendly, loud, etc. - reap the consequence of being unloved and uncared for. In film, think Cujo or kennel-thing from The Thing. They all start off as adored companions. But upon the first nip they’ve become antagonists, monsters. Likewise, women who do not engage with the rituals of patriarchy are outcast, but even those who do can never fulfill the impossibility nor bridge the contradictions of those ideals.”