Extinction
One of my warrens of research led me to the Passenger Pigeon and I was intrigued by this bird, once the most common in North America. Reports of hunters being able to pluck the birds from the bushes, they were so common at times, and the venn diagram of destruction made by the advent of train travel and refrigeration, with it's ability to transport huge quantities of food to the growing cities. This, together with loss of the birds habitat, and our human predilection to consume until we can consume no more.
The bird is mainly made of antique and vintage recycled fabrics , painted and embroidered using both hand and machine stitch. It sits on a vintage stripped wooden pigeon-timer box- Carrier(racing) pigeons are a different breed, but I liked the idea of it's history with pigeons, and it's central hole where the clock used to sit.
The passenger pigeon was once the most common bird in North America. At its peak, the population was estimated to be 3 billion birds. But the pigeons were highly valued for their meat and feathers, and over a span of just 50 years the species faced extinction. Refrigeration, railways, commercial food production, and deforestation all contributed to their end.
The ‘opaque’ music notes come from a book by Wallace Craig with written notes on the different sounds of the pigeon. The birds only existed in zoos by the time the work was published in 1911 and in 1914 Martha, the last passenger pigeon, died alone in Cincinnati Zoo.
Today, scientists are attempting to revive the passenger pigeon, along with other iconic species such as The Woolly mammoth and the Dodo, through the process of de-extinction.
The wing quote is by John J Audubon
