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Neckpiece with display stand:
What Mr. Darwin Saw.
2006

$5500
+ shipping/handling

A brooding and gothic rumination inspired by Charles Darwin's voyage
in 1836 aboard the H.M.S. Beagle.
Created for exhibition in Tasmania in the 2006 Hobart Art Prize,
What Mr. Darwin Saw alludes to the contribution Darwin
made to humankind's capacity to 'harness' the natural world around it,
as his visit to Tasmania (then known as Van Dieman's Land) during that historic journey informed the core of his On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

The chains anchoring the bird to the spigot handle might hint as well
to Darwin's observation and detailed description of the subjugation
of the Aboriginals there, a particularly tragic chapter in Australian history.

The neckpiece is of medium weight, and mounts when not worn onto a table stand, where it balances with a slight springy motion.