I found this the other day while walking my dog (shes old so we go at a slow pace, hence plenty of time to scan the floor). I once read a quote from a guy saying how if you pay attention the the floors and pavements when outside you will be amazed at the things you can find. Ive never been one for keeping head high, shoulders back when walking and out in public, usually I just want to get where I'm going and back to indoor safety as soon as possible. It comes from my neuroses of growing up, being tall meant being visible, being visible meant being a target and so good posture and me were NOT friends. we talk now, but its like a facebook friendship where you talk every so often but rarely get very deep or involved. looking at the floor has been my thing for many years thanks to the sickness of low self esteem.
Anyway, this bird was on the ground, headless and splayed out. Theres a nest in the trees nearby so I'm guessing it either fell out and got devoured later or it was the work of the bastard magpie. Visually i love magpies, but they are the evil bastard of the bird world. This is the second dead bird I've found in the space of two weeks, and the whole thing may seem morbid but even the way it was layed out on the grass, right next to the dandelion, I get the sick beauty of it. I brought it home and took photos, the chest and torso had been eaten away and the whole thing was basically a shell of the bones, wings and legs. I have a weirdness of still needing to give respect when handling dead animals, and its probably more respect than i give or is due to most humans. the birds, and the pigs head i posted previously have thrown up alot of questions regarding my morals beliefs and if I'm right in choices i make. its something that I'm still not settled on but i guess my premise is to take something bad and use it for something good and positive (in this case, art).
Artists like Polly Morgan and Julia DeVille who use taxidermy within their creations, i have alot of respect for. Their art is great and I appreciate it but what commands my respect more is the fact they can handle dealing with the insides of an animal and deconstruct it and make it work for them. As much as taxidermy has taken off with many people now choosing to go down that route, whether it be through occupation, or through collecting, its something i don't think i could do. Maybe i don't have the levels of detachment needed to be able to remove the organs and flesh, as I'm not blood shy and have no issues with gore or things some may find disturbing, i don't know, but with the bird i found yesterday, i was somehow able to tell myself its soul had long gone, it was just the carcass left, and did it having no face or head help that? (the main consensus I've found from looking into meat and flesh over the course of my final major project is that people don't like to look at or see meat, a carcass, unless is it all packaged up and sat on the supermarket shelf ready for sale) but i found myself removing the wings and legs, to hopefully use in something in the future. it wasn't pleasurable and the feel of scissors cutting through bone and tissue wasn't something id do in a hurry again, but its a new experience and that alone can only be a good thing of broadening myself, in whatever way. I'm a huge animal lover and back so many charities and causes and so using an animal to benefit me has made me worry and question if I'm being a hypocrite or selective in my views/beliefs. its weird and i do feel bad for it, i don't know if anyone gets where I'm coming from with this, i don't know if i do, i guess I'm just trying to get across that i don't view animals, alive or dead, as something i can rightfully use or take to benefit myself.
sigh.. anyway, some photographs. I love contrast and juxtaposition so the background i used on the first shots was a photograph i took some time ago of lilies, and the later shot on a care bears (yes, i am an 80's child) background i found online.
and while I'm on the same page so to speak, some of the shots I took with the bird I found on the expressway a few weeks back, untill I got up close to it, it looked unharmed and I would of kept for the skeleton, but on inspection, its skull had taken a blow and its insides had been exposed.
