Hunter College Thesis Exhibition – MFA Fall 2011

In “Ducklings 7:36 AM”, Austrian artist Martin Roth merges the boundaries between the natural and the domestic, crafting a scene that is both poetic and unsettling. The photograph, part of his 2011 MFA thesis exhibition at Hunter College, captures a pair of ducklings standing on a rumpled bed, softly lit by morning light. Time – specifically 7:36 AM – is frozen in the title, reinforcing the sense of an intimate, almost voyeuristic moment.

Roth’s conceptual practice often involves living organisms – plants, animals, or insects – brought into controlled or artificial spaces. Here, he blurs the lines between habitat and household, prompting reflections on control, intrusion, care, and vulnerability. The image suggests a quiet intrusion of the wild into the sanitized realm of human comfort, evoking questions about domestication, displacement, and the fragile relationships we have with the non-human world.

The work is emblematic of Roth’s broader exploration of the tensions between nature and culture, and his desire to let life itself play a role in the construction of art.

Source: Martin Roth