Tezos

The Evolutionary Value of Mistrust

Creator

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Description

In The Evolutionary Value of Mistrust, I explore a speculative vision of the Dodo, imagining how it might have evolved had it been given more time to adapt to the pressures of human presence and predation. The piece features a Dodo standing amidst the rocks and plants native to the island of Mauritius (orange-leafed mangrove and Transitional Basalts). The Dodo in this work is no longer the naive, defenseless bird that history records but a more resilient and aggressive creature. In crafting this "enhanced" Dodo, I looked towards a formidable land dwelling bird, The Cassowary. The Cassowary is a flightless bird native to northeastern Australia and New Guinea. Known for its size, power and aggression, it’s celebrated in the myths of local tribal groups for its dangerous capabilities. Like the cassowary, this Dodo is strong, colorful, highly territorial, and maybe a bit brighter than its ancestors… Ultimately, The Evolutionary Value of Mistrust is both a speculative exploration of what might have been and a reflection on the consequences of abrupt human actions on the natural world. It is a meditation on survival, extinction, adaptation, and the constant tension between the inhabitants of earth and the encroaching forces of change. I used feather scans from the Dodo's closest living relatives, such as the Nicobar Pigeon and other pigeon and dove species to reconstruct the bird’s plumage List of feathers, Plants and Rocks used to create this artwork: Common Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) Pallas's Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) Ruddy Quail-Dove (Geotrygon montana) Northern Pygmy-Owl (NOPO facial feather) Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA bristle feathers) Woodpecker feathers (found on a walk) Sunbittern (Eurypyga helias) Costa’s Hummingbird (COHU) (Bristle feathers) Bruguiera gymnorhiza (orange-leafed mangrove) Transitional Basalts (with relatively low crystal fractionation) Sources: https://www.featherbase.info/en/specimen/9721 https://hollandwest.com/auriculares-and-the-sonus-feather/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871101424000384#fig2 https://resources.bgs.ac.uk/sadcreports/mauritius1989undpgroundwater.pdf

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