In 1895, John Whitehead lost a hundred birdskins when the London-bound steamer S.S. Wieland caught fire off Singapore. He dutifully returned to the island of Samar to replace his lost collection. On this repeat expedition, he fortuitously collected a specimen of the great Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), which was later named after his father and sponsor, Jeffrey Whitehead. What would Whitehead’s Ark look like?
Combining the story of S.S. Wieland, the traditional symbolism of Ark as life vessel, fabulous birds of Bagobo Myths, and Bagobo-Tagabawa blacksmithing practices, Mica Cabildo conceptualized an installation for birds, which was to be “an inside-out aviary: a massive structure in the form of an open birdcage, or the frame of a stranded Ark, or the skeletal remains of a giant magical bird of prey, or a combination of all, waiting to be colonized by moss, lichens, fungi and bryophytes, providing shelter for birds, wildlife and even humans.”
In Whitehead’s Ark VR, the installation takes the form of a rusted shipwreck from which Whitehead’s birds have broken free. The Ark asks us to reflect on our roles as colonizers, saviors, captors and captives, and whether we are really any different from the birds we are trying to protect.