In the video Stoat, Marcus Coates attempts to embody the movements of a stoat, a member of the weasel family, by wearing homemade “stoat stilts.” These stilts, made from 2×4-inch wood and elastic bands, mimic the dimensions of the stoat’s paw prints and limit Coates’ movement, forcing him to adapt and move in a way that reflects the stoat’s characteristic bounding (Mueller, 2016).

Stoat explores themes of transformation and the blurring of human-animal boundaries. By restricting his natural movement, the stilts create a physical limitation that prompts him to adopt an animal-like locomotion, challenging the divide between human and non-human forms. This work is part of Coates’ broader exploration of human-animal relations and the embodied experience of other species (MK Gallery, 1999).