Instinct Extinct: The Great Pacific Flyway

This article, or artist’s inquiry, was written in concert with the exhibition Instinct Extinct: The Great Pacific Flyway. Beginning with introductions to bird migration, the concept of global flyways and the history of conservation, the text considers the poetics of art-making relative to academic research. Areas of artistic exploration include a map depicting California’s changing waterscape, video portraits of people of the flyway and assemblages of invented and found avian artifacts. The article concludes with a review of current environmental conditions affecting migratory birds and some reflective passages.