Anzeige
Boris Lurie

Logo zeitgenössische Kunst art-in-berlin

sponsored by


Gallery Michael Reid - Australian Art

Call of the Wild

Hayden Fowler





Michael Reid is proud to announce a special two part performance by Hayden Fowler

Performance Part 1 - will be held at Michael Reid Berlin on:
Thursday 12th June 2014 (from 5pm to 9pm)
Saturday 14th June 2014 (from 5pm to 9pm)
Thursday 19th June 2014 (from 5pm to 9pm)


Performance Part 2 - will be held at Michael Reid Sydney in December 2014

Michael Reid ist stolz, Ihnen die zweiteilige Performance "Call of the Wild" des Künstlers Hayden Fowler ankündigen zu dürfen.

Wir laden Sie und Ihre Freunde ein, dieses einzigartige Ereignis gemeinsam mit uns zu erleben und freuen uns über Ihr Erscheinen.

Performance Teil 1 - zu sehen in der Galerie Michael Reid Berlin, Ackerstraße 163, vom 12.06. - 12.07.2014. Performances:
Donnerstag, 12. Juni 2014 (von 17 - 21 Uhr)
Samstag, 14. Juni 2014 (von 17 - 21 Uhr)
Donnerstag, 19. Juni 2014 (von 17 - 21 Uhr)


Performance Teil 2 - in der Galerie Michael Reid Sydney im Dezember 2014

Call of the Wild - Hayden Fowler

By wearing mourning we pay tribute to those who have died. It is a public display that acknowledges their absence and our loss. Mourning jewellery - engraved rings or lockets, often bearing a portrait of the deceased - dates back to the sixteenth century, and black clothes are customary at funerals and during widowhood. After a period of days, weeks, months or years, the time arrives when such outward signs of grief may be cast off.

But what if it is not an individual, but an entire species or a whole ecology that is being mourned? A loss of such magnitude surely deserves to be marked in a permanent, irremovable way. In Call of the Wild (Berlin, 2014), Hayden Fowler continues a lifelong memorial to extinct New Zealand birdlife, using his own body as the canvas. Over three sessions of four to five hours each, his chest is being tattooed with an image of a Whekau – or laughing owl - by artist W.T.Norbert.




The last recorded specimen of a Whekau was found dead in 1914 in Canterbury on New Zealand´s South Island. It was no match for feral cats and stoats brought from the northern hemisphere to control the rabbit population that was breeding at breakneck speed. For Fowler, the story of the now extinct Whekau symbolizes the rapid disappearance of so many of the bird species that once dominated his homeland.

In a period of less than a thousand years since first human habitation, the introduction of predatory mammals and destruction of vast areas of ancient forests caused New Zealand to lose a third of all its native and freshwater birds. Many of those remaining are like the living dead; existing in small, isolated colonies on tiny offshore islands. The surviving forests are all but silent. Fowler says the swift devastation of this unique ecosystem is “ like breaking an egg. It can never be put back together.”

Call of the Wild (Berlin, 2014) continues a project Fowler started in 2007 when he sat in a high street shop window in Auckland while designs of the Huia were tattooed onto his back. In December this year Call of the Wild will transfer to Sydney where a further bird will emerge on his torso to add to the diorama. Both Berlin and Sydney performances will be documented in video and a series of stills.




A white face and yellow-brown feathers give the Whekau a less exotic-looking appearance than Fowler´s previous subjects - the Huia with its long tail feathers, or the fluffily-plumed heritage bred hens in New World Order (2013). Through the humbleness of the Whekau Fowler represents all those extinct bird species not usually singled out by artists and natural historians.

The design for the tattoo has been an act of interpretation, pieced together from nineteenth century watercolours and early black and white photographs. On Fowler´s chest the Whekau is captured in flight, looking down, legs hanging loosely beneath it and talons empty. This Whekau is not the predator; it is the prey.

Fowler´s white, geometric set prophesies a depleted, sterile future as an increasing number of species face the same fate as the Whekau. In this world beyond nature all that remains is the haunting sound of recorded birdsong and two lone figures etching out memories of what has been lost.

In taking Call of the Wild to Berlin, Fowler lifts the veil on the common northern hemisphere misconception that New Zealand is an untouched wilderness. Submitting himself to be tattooed, he sacrifices his own body in a ritual of repentance for the part humans have played in the extinction of wildlife. Call of the Wild is a demonstration of reverence, respect and regret; keeping what has been lost in nature, alive in the conscience of the world.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Gallery Michael Reid - Australian Art

Sponsored



Berlin Daily 28.03.2024
Kyiv Perenniale: Connected Tour
15-18.30h: Von Ort zu Ort durch die Ausstellungen. station urbaner kulturen/nGbK Hellersdorf, nGbK am Alex. anmeldung[at]ngbk.de

Anzeige
Magdeburg unverschämt REBELLISCH

Anzeige
Alles zur KI Bildgenese

Anzeige
Responsive image

Anzeige
SPREEPARK ARTSPACE

Anzeige Galerie Berlin

Responsive image
Galerie 15




Anzeige Galerie Berlin

Responsive image
Culterim Gallery




Anzeige Galerie Berlin

Responsive image
GalerieETAGE im Museum Reinickendorf




Anzeige Galerie Berlin

Responsive image
Haus am Kleistpark




Anzeige Galerie Berlin

Responsive image
Galerie HOTO




Sponsored Links:

a.i.p. project - artists in progress
Akademie der Künste / Pariser Platz
Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Art Laboratory Berlin
Art up
Culterim Gallery
Der Divan - Das Arabische Kulturhaus
Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM)
Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus e.V.
f³ – freiraum für fotografie
Galerie 15
Galerie HOTO
Galerie im Körnerpark
Galerie im Saalbau
Galerie im Tempelhof Museum
Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten
Galerie Parterre Berlin
Galerie Sara Lily Perez
Galerie Villa Köppe
GalerieETAGE im Museum Reinickendorf
GEDOK-Berlin e.V.
GG3 - Galerie für nachhaltige Kunst
Haus am Kleistpark
Haus am Kleistpark | Projektraum
Haus am Lützowplatz
Haus am Lützowplatz / Studiogalerie
ifa-Galerie Berlin
Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin
Kommunale Galerie Berlin
Kunstbrücke am Wildenbruch
Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee
Künstlerhof Frohnau
Kurt Tucholsky Literaturmuseum
Meinblau Projektraum
neurotitan
nüüd.berlin gallery
Platform Glitch Aesthetics
Projektraum Schönhauser
Rathaus-Galerie Reinickendorf
Rumänisches Kulturinstitut Berlin
Schering Stiftung
Schloss Biesdorf
Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank
tunnel 19
Urban Spree Galerie
Verein Berliner Künstler

© 1999 - 2020, art-in-berlin.de Kunstagentur Thomessen Hartlieb-Kühn GbR.