Taxidermy is a profession that can be thought of as a tightly interwoven tapestry consisting of contrasting contender threads. One contender being the full assemblage of living creatures all connected and dependent upon our shared sparkling gem home; Earth. The cross weave of threads are a long history of human’s desire to control, capture and “own” the species of the world.
Cut Throat is a compelling deep dive exposé of the wild journey taxidermy has taken from its toxic and inexpert origins to its fevered growth in popularity as scientific competition and society craved and demanded more in order to wonder and imagine the world beyond their lives in Europe. Cut throat continues on to its modern-day evolvement in collaboration with every level of crime and catastrophe. The motivation to keep the taxidermy machine grinding forward regardless of risk is staggering amounts of money, prestige and ego. The business plays its part in everything from local scams to international scandal involving theft, brutal human murder, all the way to political corruption at the highest levels. Taxidermy not only contributes to significant legal chaos but also reaches into the human psyche of every person playing a role in our very understanding of art, beauty, morals and ethics.
Most devastatingly, cutthroat reviews the incalculable loss that taxidermy contributes to by participation and encouragement of the annihilation of entire species and of magnificent individual animals for the shallow shortsighted purpose of humans' entertainment, power and of course, lots and lots of cold hard cash.