Koller - Out of This World Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 4pm

entered the consciousness of the Middle Ages via several funda- mental texts including the famous Thierbuch by Conrad Gessner. As late as the 16th century, he still used the tooth of the narwhal (brought to Europe by sailors) as proof of its existence. And thus also the tusk of the narwhal has kept its fascinations and secrets: While since Darwin some biologists are convinced that the tusk serves less as an actual weapon than as an asset in se- xual selection, similar to the peacock‘s feathers, other scientists argue the tusk may have other or additional functions. Pointing out the tusk‘s sensory capabilities it is argued that it could detect changes in the ocean salt concentration, while film footage of hunting narwhals suggest that they also use the tusk for feeding by stunning and hitting cod fish with it. Used as a stunning tool the narwhal tusk proves to be what we al- ways believed it to be: a magic wand. The tusk is a sensor in murky seas – both in a figurative as well as in a literal sense. The tusk is a medium to establish contact, a phallic fantasy and a metaphysical weapon. The longer we look at it and consider its many histories the more mysterious it becomes. A twisted tale of twisted ideas and fantasies. The tusk is in a very fine condition, showing a beautiful patina and intact tip. Literature: Dawn E. Bastian, Judy K. Mitchell, Handbook of Native American Mythology, Santa Barbara CA 2004. Danielle Hall, Why a Tusk? The real-life unicorns of the sea and the tusks that make them famous Jochen Hörisch (ed.), Das Tier, das es nicht gibt: Eine Text- und Bild-Collage, München 2005. This text by Johannes Binotto CHF 8 000 / 12 000 (€ 7 770 / 11 650) | 25