A L E X G A W R O N S K I

Alex Gawronski, Untitled (Analogy), 2021

‘Birds and Language’ (Conference and exhibition), the University of Sydney, Australia

Digital print, pasteboard, timber, aluminium rod

This work was produced for the exhibition accompanying the multi-day ‘Birds and Language’ conference held by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) & Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) at the University of Sydney organised by Dr Madeleine Kelly. By revealing the English meaning of my Polish surname, the piece spoke ‘site-specifically’ to contemporary histories of artist self-portraiture and self-conscious invocations of the artist’s signature. While birds like crows, ravens and magpies are often cited as prime examplars of avian intelligence, their behaviour is equally, and less flatteringly, associated with furtive scrounging and scavenging habits. Originally, this simple intervention was intended to replace the signage inside the antique biology display cabinet depicted. This is one of numerous such cabinets remaining from a previous era and occupying the upper corridors of the Old Teacher’s College (OTC) at the University of Sydney where SCA is currently housed. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions, these intentions were practically thwarted and the work replaced by a digital avatar.