Blue footed boobies and hammerhead sharks: Galápagos-inspired artwork

In 1859 the Galápagos Islands inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Now they’ve inspired Marcus Coates to dress as a blue-footed booby bird to observe human behaviour.

Human Report, Marcus Coates
Human Report, Marcus Coates

His video, Human Report, takes the form of a nature documentary and will be on show at the Bluecoat gallery in Liverpool from May, alongside the works of 11 other Galápagos-inspired artists.

Audiences (Galapagos), Jyll Bradley 2012
Audiences (Galapagos), Jyll Bradley 2012

The exhibited artists spent a month in the Galápagos Islands as part of a project that ran between 2007 and 2011. They include Jyll Bradley, Paulo Catrica and Jeremy Deller and were inspired by the islands’ wildlife, residents, scientists and tourists.

Bone room, Dorothy Cross 2007
Bone room, Dorothy Cross 2007

Bluecoat’s exhibition, curated by Bergit Arrends and Greg Hilty, will celebrate the resulting films, video installations, paintings, sculptures, photographs, animations, illustrations and sound works.

Grazing tortoise and cow on the Galapagos, Dorothy Cross 2007
Grazing tortoise and cow on the Galapagos, Dorothy Cross 2007

Coates’ video will be joined by Alexis Deacons’ drawings of the wild animals he encountered. Plus, a Kaffe Matthews 3D sound piece, inspired by hammerhead sharks, will be exhibited and a film of the islands’ now-banned cock fighting event by Jeremy Deller.

Nature is Life. Look After It, Alison Turnbull 2010
Nature is Life. Look After It, Alison Turnbull 2010

Galápagos will run from May 4 – July 1 at the Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool L1

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