Ruffled: Salmon Crested Cockatoo
This is part of a larger artwork. See the full artwork series:
Cacatua moluccensis
The Moluccan is the largest of the white cockatoos, with the female larger than the male on average. His diet consists mainly of seeds, nuts and fruit, as well as coconuts. They are considered pests in coconut plantations for attacking young coconuts and chewing through tough outer layers. This bird is widely considered to be one of the most demanding parrots to keep as a pet due to his high intelligence, large size and potential noise level.
The Collection
Images
Information
Year:
2014
Edition:
Edition of 8 + 2 Artist Proofs + 2 Museum Proofs
Materials:
Code, software, display screen, electronics, sensor, aluminium, acrylic
Details:
Dimensions in MM:
Large:
446 (W) x 518 (H) x 72 (D) mm
Dimensions in INCHES:
Large:
17.5 (W) x 20.3 (H) x 2.8 (D) inches
Dimensions in INCHES:
Large:
17.5 (W) x 20.3 (H) x 2.8 (D) inches
Context
"In Patrick Süskind’s novel, Perfume: the Story of a Murderer (1985), the anti-hero character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille uses a method known as enfleurage to extract and distil scents. Although he manages to capture a victim’s life essence in a glass bottle, it causes the captee’s demise in the process.
Harris portrays the life of a series of birds in Ruffled (2014, 2017) using code to display their essence behind the glass of high-resolution screens. Unlike Grenouille’s scents that will fade over time, however, these animations live on, ready to reactivate with each repeated viewing. One gets the sense that it will be only a short time before Harris figures out how to free these creatures from their transparent cages."
Extract from essay by Sunny Cheung