Mo Ganji: Black-eyed Bent-toed Gecko | Schwarzaugen-Bogenzehengecko | Cyrtodactylus nigriocularis | No. 038/250 from work group 8/99

Mo Ganji’s single line approaches this Black-eyed Bent-toed Gecko as an invitation to encounter presence before definition. The continuous line offers only the most essential gesture. A contour that might be recognised as a reptile, yet could equally be read as something else. In Ganji’s practice, such reduction dissolves the weight of naming and classification, allowing the being beneath the concept to emerge with quiet clarity.

Cyrtodactylus nigriocularis is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List. Endemic to southern Vietnam, the species inhabits forested limestone habitats where it depends on crevices, humid microclimates and intact vegetation structures. Its distribution is limited, and populations are sensitive to even subtle disturbances.

The primary threats include habitat loss through quarrying of limestone formations, deforestation, agricultural expansion and collection pressure. Because the species occupies specialised microhabitats, changes in forest cover or rock structure can rapidly diminish suitable living space. Fragmentation further restricts movement and isolates local populations.

Ganji’s minimal line creates a space in which the gecko’s essential form can be sensed without conceptual noise. In this distilled outline, the viewer encounters not a catalogue of traits but a presence. It can be read as a reminder that what we classify as “species” represents only one human way of arranging life, while the being itself exists beyond such labels.