Why
horses?
Each of the artists involved in this exhibition
could probably give you a different answer to this question, as could each person who is said to love horses.
For some, it could be the sheer size and physicality
of their bodies, which may represent a place of greater safety, contact with the earth and integration with the landscape;
or the symbolism of power, or freedom; or it may be the ancient link between our species and the resulting accrued myths. It may be the curiosity and generosity inherent
in their nature, which makes them so easy to exploit, but in actuality reveals to us what our own inner nature truly is.
Horses are amongst the oldest mammals on the
planet, surviving and evolving for millions of years before human beings appeared. Despite being domesticated by us and bred and enslaved for our own purposes
for thousands of years, they retain their ancient wisdom, dignity and life force intact.
The master horseman Bill Dorrance said: “There is nothing more important to
the horse than feel. It’s what they look for in other living things, it’s how they live and, maybe, it’s
the reason they’re still around. With everything nowadays as speeded up as it is, I’ve often wondered if there isn’t something real important
that people can learn from the way horses interact.”
As artists, our highest aspiration is to share
our appreciation, evolving knowledge and intense observation of these animals in such a way as to encourage us to look with
fresh eyes at horses.
Horses: who have been food, drones, slaves,
sports equipment, war machines, works of art, the engines of empires, companions, comrades and friends. Who possess stoic continuance and seemingly endless capacity for adaptation
and yet retain direct access, when given the opportunity, to their own intrinsic nature and the wildness of their ancient
forebears.
As we bulldoze our bloodstained path into the
21st century on our overcrowded and overburdened planet, perhaps there is
something in the way we treat that planet, treat the other species on it, and treat each other that we could usefully learn
from this enduring and remarkable species.
Adaptation rather than
mastery may be the key to our mutual survival, and we could do well perhaps, to consider the example and mirror that the horse has available for us.
Jess Wallace, Yorkshire, January 4th 2009
