Isabel Young’s work
considers mans relationship with nature and the effect we have on the
environment. The work in Pocket-Scopic explores the world of reptile enclosures
and aquariums. The aquariums and tanks are portrayed as claustrophobic interior
landscapes that look at the zoo as an institution that brings wildlife to the
heart of urban life. The zoo provides us with a simulated nature that is wholly
designed and composed for the entertainment of the observer rather than for the
benefit of the animal. The snakes and fish in the work represent a zombie state
or half-life since they neither exist in the wild nor are they located in the
domestic world.
