Dr Trevor Weekes

Natural History illustration is associated with exact depictions of the Natural world. The New Bird represents a deviation from this. It imagines what Natural History illustration would look like when confronted with a genetically engineered bird. In this sense the illustration series acts like a silent ironic witness observing the ongoing theme about the struggle between Nature and Technology. Using traditional techniques associated with Natural History illustration and under the guise of realism, it questions the results of technological interventions in the avian world. The New Bird consists of fifty works (including a limited edition book) around the theme of the manufactured bird. These manufactured birds investigate ethical questions such as whether genetic engineering is the saviour of ecological disaster? The research explored issues such as: what would the world be like if there were no birds due to human intervention such as genetic engineering or extermination (the bird flu virus); would the opportunity to create a new bird result in gross commercialism or the misuse of technology; and at what point does the natural bird cease to exist and become a hybrid or even a parody of itself? The exhibition was shown in one of Sydneys top Galleries, sales of work was high, the work exists on the web (http://picasaweb.google.com/artscope.post/ArtsHealthBanner#5143194443176282434) and was written about in several journals, including the NSW College of Fine Art magazine and the research profile produced by the University of Newcastle.