Artist in Residence: Shake the Dust Off Your Wings

‘Shake the Dust Off Your Wings’ is a public video artwork collaboration between artist Leila Jeffreys and filmmaker Melvin J. Montalban, exhibiting in The Galeries as the first installment of our Artist in Residence program.

'Shake the Dust Off Your Wings' is part sculpture, part video art. The film, featuring Gouldian and Zebra finches, captures the arrival and playful bathing of the birds. The swift movement of the finches, no more than the height of a lemon, was captured on a high-speed camera at 1000 frames per second. The work's sculptural form is a semi-circular pool atop a pedestal, evoking the shape of a birdbath. The matte black alupanel creates a misty watery reflection, mirroring the slow-motion imagery from the three displays mounted above. The music is played via induction speakers adhered to the inside surface of the pedestal, using its hollow form as the resonating chamber.

The work is Leila and Melvin's second collaboration, whose ongoing partnership aims to create art that quietens the mind and puts us in a meditative state, to free us from the urge to relentlessly 'do' and reconnect us with the present moment.

This project is in partnership with the City of Sydney.