Racoon (Skunk) 1989

Jimmie Durham made this sculpture titled 'Racoon (Skunk)' out of found materials. The playful absurdity is immediately clear, right? It's like he’s saying, "Here, think about this, but don't take it too seriously." Durham uses the stuff of our everyday world – wood, metal, photographs – to create something that pokes at our ideas of nature and culture. The animal head at the top is colourful and cartoonish, in stark contrast to the grim black and white photograph beneath. The mirror seems to be reflecting something back at us, but it's broken, offering only fragmented views. I love how Durham's work embraces this kind of ambiguity. It reminds me of Kurt Schwitters' collages, that same feeling of pulling beauty and meaning from the discarded bits of the world.