Metabolic Transformations > For Things That Live and Die

For Things That Live and Die
Video (color, sound): Local birds, suet, local berries and seeds, wireform mannequin, weather proof fabric, grommets, chain, carabiners, and stone
6 min 30 s
2022

For Things That Live and Die was staged at Wave Hill Cultural Center in Bronx, NY. A suet sculpture containing bird feed and blueberries was offered to the birds from March to May of 2022 attracting local and migratory birds to consume and propagate the seeds contained. The birds consumed the seeds, activated them through digestive scarification, and propagated them through the nearby region restoring blueberries and other local plants to the Hudson Valley and Shawangunk Region.

This work references text from Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus. A chained figure is slowly consumed by birds as it quietly orates on his sacrifice in realization about the responsibility of power and stewardship.