South African artist Andries Botha constructed these life-like family of elephants trailing along the coastlines in Beligium using driftwood for his public installation titled ‘You Can Buy My Heart and My Soul’ for Beautfort’s second Triennial of Contemporary Art by the Sea in 2006
“In African mythology the elephant reincarnates carrying the soul of a murdered God. It is thus the embodiment of the transmigration of souls. It is also the metaphor for the world’s preoccupation with Africa as an exotic location. The elephant thus embodies the world’s romanticism with Africa. In part it is the Colonial panacea: wildness can be contained, civilised and taken back to the ballrooms of the First World as a trophy.”
