There were seagulls when I was a girl is a body of work that aims to celebrate Australian seagulls and lament their threatened status in the context of the current H5 Avian influenza outbreak in Australia. The installation features a series of stop motion animations and installation that employs recycled Tetra-pak print plates, corresponding prints and a paper cutout work that reflects on reporting of information during a crisis. The intensity and pitch of this reporting can directly effect the nation’s state of ecological grief and anxiety in the face of a potential extinction event.

H5 Avian Influenza has killed millions of animals globally. Being the last major landmass to see an outbreak in the disease, Australia can learn from the experiences of other countries. The unknown possible impact on our unique ecosystems breeds anxiety as we prepare for the fallout to Australia’s wildlife and poultry industry. 

As a print surface, the use of Tetra-pak creates tension by evoking conversations around environmental degeneration with a hugely wasteful product. The tetra-pak prints are displayed in a flock with a sense of dynamism that reflects the animated work. Mirror lined boxes invite the viewer to seek the animated trouble within, the infinite possibilities and outcomes. The looping stop motion animations speculate on how time influences and reveals the impact of human activity parallel to natural environmental evolution. Avian flu has been present for millennia. Has human impulsion to house mass domestic birds in close proximity threatened the natural pathways to defend against these diseases?