Dodos Ex Machina

This is a photograph of the first Dodo bird I ever carved. I made this sculpture in obsidian, and carved it by removing material, using diamonds and water. It represents a Dodo Bird nesting on a machine. This sculpture has a kinetic element as, when one tips the work, an egg pops out of the other side of the machine. At the time I thought reverse engineering dodos would be a way to resurrect the species. This sculpture resides in the collection of my very excellent friend, Ralfe Whistler. If you want to see this sculpture you must travel to Battle, in England, and visit Dodo House. Further, I can lay it out cold for the institutions, with all due respect to the late Hilaire Belloc, this one's mine.

The Last Dodo:
The Dodo (raphus cucullatus) became extinct by the end of the 1600's. Although the exact date The last dodo died is unknown, the last intact specimen was consigned to flames in ignorance, at THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, Oxford 1755.

was it shabby and rotten, was it creepy and rude ?
was the curator just in, a house cleaning mood ?

was it bad taxidermy, was it dusty and old ?
was it flea bitten, mangy or covered with mold ?

was it really subversive, was it smelly and putrid ?
was it aesthetically weak, were the trustees all stupid ?

all questions have answers, but we'll likely get spurned...
if at Oxford, we ask, Why the Dodo got burned ?

Rhyme published in
‘ BRUSSELS SPROUTS & UNiCORNS ’

-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats