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Jim Lee

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Let Us Prey: Verse I

Let Us Prey: Verse I

This is one of two similar pieces that are reflections on the dark side of abundance. They are always displayed together. Abundance doesn’t just appear. It must be accumulated (read as: mined, harvested, or hunted) from existing resources that are always limited by natural laws and systems of interdependence. We are, by nature or by acquiescence, predators who consume our prey. Something, either plant or animal, must die for us to live. We facilitate the regeneration of living resources so that we may kill again. We call it farming and harvesting. Even grocery shopping is soft-core predation. The eggshells, symbolic of life taken with intention and precision, are arranged in a quasi-coded form of verses from a fictitious ancient Yaiovumic civilization. Each row of eggs is a single word. In keeping with the traditional poetic form, no word can be repeated in any single verse. The ossuaries speak for themselves.

Let us Prey, Verse I: Feast: Our feasts begin with death and celebration. We feed on taken lives.

Let us Prey, Verse II: Famine: Some beings perish in times of famine. Others flourish by consuming remains.