I Once Heard a Bird Sing expresses our complex relationship with the endemic Helmeted Honeyeater—Victoria's State bird emblem. This species is now on the brink of extinction. Only 240 birds remain in the wild in small remnant patches of riverbank and swamp forests in the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area, a narrow corridor of 5.9km in length.
I Once Heard a Bird Sing presents a new experience of the Helmeted Honeyeater and its habitat. Through the convergence of 3D animation and field recordings, Cornish renders a digital copy of the Helmeted Honeyeater and its habitat, moving the bird beyond the confines of reality into the realm of symbolism. Referencing natural history museums and their specimen collections, she preserves the Helmet Honeyeater and the soundscape of its habitat as a digital memory safeguarded within a contemporary cabinet of curiosity, a Wunderkammer. This metamorphosis allows the bird to transcend its physical limitations, no longer confined to protective enclosures. The threat of habitat loss and degradation, which threatened its survival, has become an obsolete concern in this digital sanctuary. I Once Heard a Bird Sing transports viewers into a realm where the Helmeted Honeyeater's essence and symbolism thrive undeterred.
I Once Heard a Bird Sing: 2023
Installation view. Blackwood, Messmate and Fiddle Back Mountain Ash Wunderkammer, dimensions: 200 tall x 79 wide x 55cm deep. Two channel 3D Helmeted Honeyeater animation with stereo sound. Duration 65 minute loop.
I Once Heard a Bird Sing, was supported by Creative Victoria through the Creators Fund
Installation view detail, Burrinja Cultural Centre, 2023. Photo Christian Capurro.
Cabinet fabrication: Kristian King
3D realisation: Jack Cornish
I Once Heard a Bird Sing presents a new experience of the Helmeted Honeyeater and its habitat. Through the convergence of 3D animation and field recordings, Cornish renders a digital copy of the Helmeted Honeyeater and its habitat, moving the bird beyond the confines of reality into the realm of symbolism. Referencing natural history museums and their specimen collections, she preserves the Helmet Honeyeater and the soundscape of its habitat as a digital memory safeguarded within a contemporary cabinet of curiosity, a Wunderkammer. This metamorphosis allows the bird to transcend its physical limitations, no longer confined to protective enclosures. The threat of habitat loss and degradation, which threatened its survival, has become an obsolete concern in this digital sanctuary. I Once Heard a Bird Sing transports viewers into a realm where the Helmeted Honeyeater's essence and symbolism thrive undeterred.
I Once Heard a Bird Sing: 2023
Installation view. Blackwood, Messmate and Fiddle Back Mountain Ash Wunderkammer, dimensions: 200 tall x 79 wide x 55cm deep. Two channel 3D Helmeted Honeyeater animation with stereo sound. Duration 65 minute loop.
I Once Heard a Bird Sing, was supported by Creative Victoria through the Creators Fund
Installation view detail, Burrinja Cultural Centre, 2023. Photo Christian Capurro.
Cabinet fabrication: Kristian King
3D realisation: Jack Cornish
