The bronze sculptures and wall assemblages exhibited in Birdsongs is a collaboration between renowned sculptor Joseph Havel and his African grey parrot Hannah. Like most Americans during lockdown, Joseph Havel turned to online shopping to fulfill basic needs. With the abundance of cardboard boxes Hannah reverted to her natural instincts and began chewing on the boxes. Havel stacked the boxes and allowed Hannah to revisit the boxes to make sure she was happy with her creations. Once both artists are satisfied with the box tower creations, Havel casts the creations in Bronze. “She brings her instinct, I bring mine, and somewhere in the middle we meet,” Havel says.
The work is a statement about the excess and waste of modern convenience. The convenience of quick, on-demand delivery increases the demand for fossil fuels and creates excess carbon emissions. The demand for cardboard boxes contributes to deforestation and habitat loss of species like the African grey parrot. The precarious appearance of the structures is a nod to the chaos of the past two years and the demise of our planet’s ecosystems.
Along with the exhibition at Arthur Roger Gallery, other pieces from this body of work are on view in Parrot Architecture at Dallas Contemporary from April 16–August 21 and Flight Paths and Floor Plans at Dallas’s Talley Dunn Gallery from May 7–June 18.
