Hoplessly hopeful, alias the last recording of Kauai Oo.

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Sculpture with audio element.

This work consists of a replica bird’s nest placed upside down and suspended from the ceiling, allowing the viewer to walk beneath, and an audio recording featuring the original sound of a Kauai Oo bird provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornel Lab of Ornithology, New York and a voiceover by Dr Jack Kelleher.

Kauai is one of the Hawaiian islands which used to be a home for a small honeyeater bird called Kauai Oo. This bird, well known for his distinctive voice and attractive black and yellow feathers, is now extinct. Ornithologists desperately tried to protect the last pair living on the island, but after a devastating hurricane in 1982 the female disappeared. Oos mated for life and sang in duets, the gaps left in a solo Oo’s song are noticeable in the recording used within the artwork. This recording was captured by three ornithologists who came back to the island in 1986 and unexpectedly spotted the last Kauai Oo there. Jim Jacoby described how he clicked his tape recorder when he spotted the bird and heard it singing. He was very excited about his finding and later on that day he shared the news with his colleagues. He played the recording to them when suddenly the bird came back. At first, they couldn’t believe their luck but it soon dawned on them that the bird came back because he thought he heard another Kauai Oo. The last male Kauai Oo died soon afterward.

Just like the bird hoped, for a moment, that he wasn’t alone I hope that species extinction in the future will only be caused through natural processes, rather than intentionally through the actions of mankind.

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