George - columba migranta
Digital C-print on Fuji Crystal Archive DPII, mounted on aluminium, framed in a walnut frame
77cm x 55cm x 2.2cm
2014
Edition 3/1 AP
Photo by Stefan Altenburger
George - columba migranta
This photograph represents a museum example of an extinct bird, the migratory pigeon. The artist wanted to immortalize George from all four sides, so he can always be shown looking to the west, towards Cincinnati, where Martha, the last representative of his species, died in 1914. She was named in honour of the wife of the first American president, George Washington. Widely present in North America in XIX century, the migratory pigeon was wiped out by hunters and intensive deforestation, as well as natural disasters. The artist’s imaginative suggestion of a transatlantic love story brings a romantic, emotional dimension to the drama that is extinction.
