Birdland - An Artist's Imaginary Aviary
Authors: Sykes, E.L.
Dates: 31 July-18 October 2009
Abstract:Invited to exhibit in Birdland - An Artist's Imaginary Aviary, by Helen Sloan, SCAN and Judy Adam, curator. This group exhibition included works by Bill Woodrow and Jamie Shovlin. For this exhibition I showed Magpie, a single screen 3’33” short of a magpie’s encounter with his own reflection, becoming progressively more territorial towards his own mirror image. Pecking, clawing and flapping, his actions become increasingly repetitive and aggressive, yet strangely comedic. The work simultaneously encourages to audience to take in the beauty of the deep green plumage, and the delicate claws. Additionally, ‘Magpie’ throws up questions about we feel about being confronted with our own image. The ‘Birdland’ exhibition marked the occasion of Charles Darwin's bicentenary and focused on the inspiration provided by birds, in works by artists in a wide variety of media, including painting, printmaking, drawing, installation, film and sound.
Source: Manual
Preferred by: Lizzie Sykes