Robert Zhao Renhui

Zhao Renhui works under the aegis of the Institute of Critical Zoologists he has founded. He creates a kind of pastiche that provokes multifaceted reflection on the image of the realm of nature in our modern consciousness. The main topic of A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World is human interference in the natural world. The author says that his project is "an encyclopedia of man-made nature." As usual for Zhao Renhui’s work, it is a kind of archive of messages that are scientific in form, if not in content. Each message is illustrated with a photograph. The messages concern cases of genetic manipulation, interference in the environment and local ecosystems, and the extermination of species. At first glance, one can hardly distinguish fact from fiction, which in itself is an excellent commentary on the present life, where this distinction has become rather blurred.

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