Phó Malpica: The last White Elephant

The last White Elephant is a consideration of the effects of both physical evolution and the evolution of consciousness on a species. It is the portrait of a fictional creature at a proposed point in its evolutionary cycle. It is a multi-media and site-specific performance presented by COLLECTIVE COLLECTIVE.

Within less than a century the number of elephants born without tusks has increased significantly. One theory suggests that elephants feel threatened by ivory poachers, and as a result are accelerating the evolutionary process in order to defend their species. Though the theory has been accepted as true by many, poaching as a cause for evolution may be entirely fictional. However,working under the notion that poaching is the culprit, does it suggest that elephants are self-aware and have they evolved out of a conscious need for change?

Similarly in the past century, technology has been a source of transformation effecting our own abilities to adapt.  It has dulled our senses, inhibited our natural instincts, and limited our recognition of the need to stimulate biological change. The human body has grown weaker and has succumb to the will of both natural and manmade forces. Some of the devices we've created to ease our physical inabilities have proliferated recessive behavior. In turn we've permanently altered our intrinsic nature. That leaves us the questioning whether or not humans as a species have evolved.

Phó Malpica is a fictional creature at a point in its evolutionary cycle. It is part human and part elephant. The human portion of this character is a representation of biological preservation; the elephant exemplifies the will to survive. This project intends to shed light on the human/animal connection. It invites thought on concepts of transmutation and acknowledges theories of evolution and the evolution of consciousness through the anthropomorphic creature Phó.