Untitled (Death Song)

Untitled (Death Song) (2020), takes its first note from the haunting cries of the yellow-eyed Bush Stone-curlew. An endangered species within New South Wales and Victoria due to land clearing, habitat loss and predation by feral cats and foxes, the Bush Stone-curlew is known for its distinctive call, a ghost-like “weer-lo” sound.

Heard in chorus and crescendo with other Bush Stone-curlews, the eerie call is often mistaken for a crying baby or wailing woman. Cope is deeply interested in the sound of Country; if the land could sing, how might it sound?

Taking her cue from the Bush Stone-curlew, Untitled is a lament. The threatened status of the bird not only registers significant ecological change and the impact of modern agricultural land management; it is a harbinger, a warning for the future.

The artist would like to thank:
Isha Ram Das - Sound Designer
Hoshio Shinohara - Collaborative maker
Rafaela McDonald and Liquid Architecture

EXHIBITION HISTORY
- We Are Electric, 2023, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, QLD
- Reclaim the Earth, 2022, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
- Mona Foma 2022, Mona Foma, Hobart, Tasmania
- Megan Cope: Fractures and Frequencies; UNSW Galleries; 16 January - 17 April 2021
Presented in association with Sydney Festival.
- 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres; Curated by Leigh Robb; 29 February – 8 June 2020.

PRESS
https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/climate-inaction-is-the-greatest-monster-in-the-biennale-closet-259756-2366283/

https://disclaimer.org.au/contents/unsettling-scores/untitled-death-song

http://createsend.com/t/d-089ED5F8D437FF292540EF23F30FEDED

https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/arts/visual-arts/2020/06/03/revisiting-2020-adelaide-biennial-monster-theatres/

https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/march/1614517200/anwen-crawford/listening-country-fractures-frequencies-and-infractions#mtr

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/art/megan-cope-fractures-and-frequencies