In the video O’o a human figure appears in a dark mass, struggling to make words audible. At the same time a soundtrack reveals people shuffling around a table. They cough nervously, they breath incoherently, while listening to a record tape. The subtitles accompanying the video explain that they are waiting for a revelation. But there is nothing, just pure silence. The tension is sharp and violent, the image soft and tender.

O’o refers to the name of an Hawaiian extinct bird species. In the documentary “Racing Extinction” they show a video of the last surviving male O'o bird singing his final mating song, waiting for a response that will never come, resulting in its inevitable death. This creates an apocalyptic vision of our own biggest existential fear: being the last one standing in front of a final frontier. Alongside the projection three colourful birds lay motionless on the museum floor. Their eyes are still partly open, as if they just fell out of the sky.

Prijs van de vrienden van het S.M.A.K., 2016

O'o #3

taxidermy bird
8x3

Eye 2
12x5
talc-schist