14 November 2007
ULITSKY'S FLOCK SERIES REVIEWED BY CHRISTOPHER REIGER
511 GALLERY: The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), the subject of Catherine Ulitsky's "Flock" works, is popular among artists with an interest in natural history. The species is one of the world's most successful habitat generalists, capable of occupying almost any available (or exploitable) ecological niche. Sturnus vulgaris was brought to these shores in 1890 by a well-meaning, if imprudent drug manufacturer named Eugene Schiefflin. Schiefflin was a member of the Acclimation Society of North America, a group that dedicated itself to accelerating the geographical exchange of species.
Supposedly, Schiefflin intended to establish locally all bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. Fortunately the druggist was unsuccessful, but the House sparrow (Passer domesticus) and European starling took to this fair city and, then, the rest of North America. Because the species is now so familiar here, the bird has become a poster child for "invasive," "alien" or introduced species and the starling's modest celebrity in the contemporary art world is likely a result of its ubiquity.
The technical name for a flock of starlings is murmuration, a reference to the astonishing sound a large flock makes as it swoops, turns and pours through the air. Over the years, I've many times stood rapt as several thousand starlings moved over me, trading from one Virginia field to another. When a murmuration changes course, usually quite suddenly, the combined effect of the sound and sight can lead to a kind of sensual overload, sometimes causing me to sway, unbalanced. The sky is for a moment revealed as an ocean, the world turned over, birds schooling through the ether.
In and of themselves, Ulitsky's photographs of small flocks of starlings are unremarkable, but the pictures are made elegant by the addition of painted lines that connect each individual to other members of the flock. The results illustrate how variable a murmuration can be - consider the more regimented skein of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) - but also imply the existence of an innate, natural geometry. This geometry need not be literal; the looking itself is what matters.
The artist describes her projects as "reciprocal [ways] to continually reinvigorate my own appreciation for what is around me." With this series of pictures, she reinvigorates mine, too.
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