On Slaughter

Black Forest Library is a series for dilettante artistic research that wanders between the disciplines: from em-dashes to emblems, palm trees to peeing, Ulysses to Virginia Woolf, and basketball to furniture.

In “On Slaugther”, artist Klara Hobza uses scientific drawings to accompany Markus, a dropout in the forests of Sweden as he slaughters a sheep. The best impression of the book is undoubtedly gained by quoting the table of contents: Bench; Knives; Sharpening; Whisk; Before we start; The killing; The skinning; The organs; Usage of intestines; The Slaughter will be finished now; Glue; Meat; …
“Every time I slaughter, I think it’s something, hmm ... it’s something ... it’s a feeling. The part where I feel nervous to kill the animal or some- thing, that has long ago gone away ... in a way. But I think the whole act in itself, with the taking off the skin and opening the body and seeing all this inside and ... I think the whole act – as a whole – is kind of beau- tiful, in a strange way.” – Markus