Not for Human Consumption

 Performance, Video, 2012

 In the autumn and winter we see it necessary to leave food out for the birds. This began in Victorian times when a series of bad winters almost wiped out entire species of garden birds. Upper and middle class Victorians were beginning to see the hardship of these small birds. This lead to the first UK wide feeding of garden birds. Since this time the sale of specialized bird food has grown to a multi million pound business.

 

Not for Human Consumption is a video work taking the form of a one off cookery program. A character of a chef explains to the audience how to make bird seed cake. The audience may not understand the language he uses as it is directed towards specific species of garden bird. Instead the audience must make do with the English translation.