Cabinet of Curiosity

Mimic Cabinet of Curiosity

Materials: Hard foam board, Black scotch tape, tan scotch tape, straight pins, black sharpie, hot glue, duct tape

Cabinet Dimensions: Height 20 inches, Width 15 inches, Depth 9 inches

Treasure Chest Mimic Dimensions: Height 6 inches, Width 6 inches, Depth 2 inches

Ceiling Lamp Mimic Dimensions: Height 3 inches, Height with Tongue 6 inches, Radius 3.5 inches

    The concept for this sculpture is influenced on the fantasy monster known as a mimic; an ambush predator that disguises itself as objects of avarice. This is an inverse to a collection I'd read about where human heads were collected from old asylums. Over time, the skeletal structure would begin to give way, and the flesh would be flayed from the original body and pinned to these wooden mannequins. What I wanted was to flip this concept of making a wooden structure look organic, and instead make an organic structure look wooden. 

    As I started building, I decided early I wanted these creatures to look as though the disguise had already begun falling away mid-attack, and so there was intent in making the tape fold on itself to give a veiny sort of look. Hot glue was very effective at making the sticky saliva ooze all over the place as well as turning straight pins into the teeth for the treasure chest mimic. In most cases, the mimic is a creature designed to punish greedy behavior, and this felt karmic to me as the collection of human heads felt more than a little too far. There is an argument explaining how this could be useful for medical purposes, however, and so the idea for the ceiling light mimic came to be as it was a smart trap for those that have a "legitimate" reason for reaching up to the light.

    In the end, to complete the cabinet, I decided to turn the whole cabinet into a mimic as well. From my perspective, the creation of these cabinets have proven to be more of a selfish desire and greed rather than something designed for the sake of preserving items of true historic value. The cabinet itself, dripping with the sticky saliva, acts as a trap for any that wish to collect such tempting curios. The message being that perhaps the thoughts "what is being collected?" and "should this be collected?" might bring an individual to show some restraint on their own avarice. Perhaps, we as humans shouldn't allow for greed to overpower the ethical boundaries we have built over the years, and leave well enough alone.