Pantheon Island
2011
Think Tank Gallery, Bentley
Created using the bright and clumsy Claymation animating technique, Pantheon Island is a narrative artwork that weaves an unlikely tale in which the animals of the world invent its institutions. Formulated as a kind of creation myth, this first chapter, shown below, gives an fable-like account of the development of agriculture after the arrival of swine on earth after the biblical flood. In this version of the story, it is the animal kingdom, not homo sapiens, which establish the pillars of humanity at the dawn of time. This sequence of events can be simultaneously thought of as a child-like allegory for Man’s foundation, and a satire on the notion of magically instantaneous civilization. This investigation then widens out into the rest of the exhibition, to consider the centrality of animal as human avatars in allegorical and religious texts, with a particular focus on the hierarchical or processional arrangement of animals to describe the stereotypes and social stratum of humans.
Pantheon Island Catalogue – an A6 zine containing Pantheon Island short story
Pantheon Island, 2011, Sheridan Coleman, claymation film, 7min 13sec
Pantheon Island, 2011, installation view, Sheridan Coleman, photographs & watercolour
Dr. Sheridan Hart 