In ‘Our Early Days’, the first chapter of his book, Safety Gear for Small Animals, Bill Burns recalls the growth of his life-long project. He describes, in really humorous prose, his childhood during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the end of the Cold War as one of constant fear of apocalypse and regular tests and drills in case the big one came. He and his brothers realized that in the event of nuclear winter, the little animals he saw in Saskatchewan would never be as prepared as the Burns’ were. This inspired a series of experiments and fittings for groundhogs, chipmunks or whatever he could safely trap.
The collection consists of tiny gas masks, work gloves, life vests and hard hats; a one-quarter scale set up of the provisions one receives as a guest at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and another with an assortment of prosthetic animal parts, mainly eyes and dentures. The last, Burns’ told me, helps in readjusting traumatized animals back into their social structures, because of the important role of physical attraction in mating.
The start-up company itself is documented through a display of letters and notes, often on SGSA’s letterhead, to heads of state requesting their support in a project to save small animals from the trials of urban dwelling by outfitting them with tiny reflective vests, hard hats, leather gloves or whatever their respective situations call for.
Here is his site and his show at ICA in London.
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