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TAXIDERMY

Mole skin

Working with skin also led to another path, as there are many more animals, which at a certain point come to an ending of their live. Seeing a lot of roadkill on the way to my office, made me think about what happens to these animals. Leather is still the most used material in footwear, but it is more and more being criticised. As long as we eat meat and consume dairy, there will be leather. But what about all the animals that die at the vet, through pest control or as roadkill? Is it more, or less ethically responsible to use the skins of these animals for leather?

I took several taxidermy workshops at Bos & Fauna to learn more about dealing with small animals. After the workshop I got my hands on 3 moles to work with. I learned how to skin the animals and preserve them, the next step was to see if it is possible to make a shoe from them. In taxidermy, the skin is not tanned, but preserved. This means that the bacteria are killed and the skin is then dried out. When the skin is dry, is becomes hard and stiff, like parchment.

All three moles were used to create one shoe, which was moulded around the foot shape. The skins were sewn together while they were still wet and slippery so they could dry up in the shape of the foot. It became a very fragile ‘shoe’, because the skin is very thin and delicate. However, it is a great piece to discuss the possibilities and limitation we have on using animal based material.

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