Decoy code book #1
Artist
Beckett, Alexis
Production date
2004-2005
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Object Detail
Title
Decoy code book #1
Production date
2004-2005
Medium
digital print with pigment inks on Somerset cotton paper, with card and Chicago screws
Measurements
32.0 x 44.0 x 1.2 cm
Object type
Edition
3/3
Secondary production details
Publisher: Alexis Beckett
Interpretive text
I am currently a candidate for a Master of Art (by research) at RMIT University. My focus is the extinction of wild species (particularly birds) and my aim is to make artwork that will memorialise birds as a metaphor for the breakdown of our relationship with the natural world. During my research I found the first bird list for Melbourne. It consists of 157 species and was compiled in the 1840's by pioneer farmer John Cotton during his regular journeys from Port Phillip Bay to his farm via the Moonee Ponds Creek. My own list for this region is 52 species. While none of these bird species is extinct, the presage to extinction is loss and absence. 'Decoy' is a contemporary collection of birds (ornaments found in Melbourne), painted black and displayed on black velvet cushions. It refers to a lost time when wild birds were commonly seen and easily collected for scientific study and domestic display. Of Australia's 1350 species, 25 are extinct and 263 in danger. (S.Garnett, G.Crowley, 'The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000' Environment Australia 2000) Of the world's 9700 bird species, 103 have gone extinct since the early 1800's and 1189 are now classified as critically endangered. ('Red Data Book of Threatened Species' I.U.C.N. World Conservation Union, 2000 ) Alexis Beckett, 2006
Credit line
Mackay Regional Council Art Collection Purchased, 2006
Accession number
2007.61