Having Parts Missing

Having Parts Missing shows a series of handles made from CITES-listed (forbidden) hardwood. Because of their forbidden status, the wood is only sold in very small very highly priced leftover batches, making the already luxury goods even more exuberant. The handles are attached to the walls as done with hunting souvenirs, but on hip hight, making the visitors stand in line facing the wall. In other iterations, the handles are attached to a horse-jumping obstacle. Their various shapes invite different approaches and attitudes to be held, spiking different associations on the character and malignancy of the missing tool. The wood, Bubinga, is carved into several handle-like shapes; the very practical component for the manipulation of objects, but also the trophy part of a tool – red-handedly implicating the user in a system of transgression.