[October 19, 2006] Paul Kolker’s H5N1 Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest — Picture an avian flu virus, a rooster, pigeon droppings, attacking birds, Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds, hysteria, Jack Nicholson as Randle, inflatable fowl, chicken, eggs, vintery, mintery, cutery, corn… and a Bronx Zoo cuckoo borne… painted in elemental colors of silica based acrylic and silkscreen ink.
Kolker creates and curates this exhibition, engaging the viewer in a dialogue about the societal and environmental impacts of a potential avian H5N1 influenza pandemic. Migratory birds and poultry along with their eggs become a pariah. Thanksgiving dinner is without turkey. Chicken breasts vanish along with the backyard bird feeders. Watch out for the pigeon droppings while walking under the High Line. And what about the blue heron, wild ducks and Canadian geese in lakes and ponds, tainting the fish farms, perhaps? Hurry up and make enough avian flu vaccine from chick eggs while there is time. Stock up on Tamiflu and the stock is up. Stay away from doctors’ waiting rooms and avoid airplane travel, movies and public places. Sounds like a Hitchcock movie evoking panic or the Mother Goose rhyme… “Three geese in a flock, One flew east, And one flew west, And one flew over the cuckoo’s nest”. Pandemic or pandemonium of a paradise lost?
Paul Kolker: H5N1 Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest — Opening October 19, 2006.