Kay Rosen | Duck in the Muck

Kay Rosen

Duck in the Muck

Gothenburg, Sweden: LL'Editions, 2024

10 pp., 99 x 14.2 cm., accordion fold

Edition of 250

For their Leporello Series, ll’Editions invites a well-curated selection of excellent artists (Jonathan Monk, Micah Lexier, Fiona Banner, Maurizio Nannucci, etc.) to conceive of a work in the accordion fold format. Beyond this format stipulation, artists are given carte blanche to respond any way they wish. 

For the tenth iteration of the series, Kay Rosen revisited a work not seen for over a decade. Duck in the Muck was presented at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver in 2013, as part of Rosen’s first solo exhibition in Canada (see below). The work was conceived in 1989, the year of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. 

On March 24th, 1989, an oil supertanker owned by the Exxon Shipping Company struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, ten kilometres west of Tatitlek, Alaska, at midnight. The tanker spilled over ten million gallons of crude oil over the next few days.

It was the second largest oil in U.S. waters, and the environmental impact was exacerbated by the remoteness of the site. Prince William Sound is only accessible by helicopter, plane, or boat, making government and industry response efforts difficult. 

Many miles of coastline were affected and species as diverse as sea otters, harlequin ducks, and orcas whales suffered immediate and long-term losses. Some have still not recovered. 

Duck in the Muck (also known as Exxon Axxident) consists of nine distorted variations of the word “quack” reflecting "genetic damage to living species by oil and chemical spills, and as a worldwide disaster, the multiple spellings allude to the cries of voices from populations around the globe.”

Duck in the Muck was released earlier this month in a small edition of 250 copies. Get yours for €30, here.