Two flocks of cast glass birds have descended on Brick Bay. The Plunderers by Jim Dennison and Leanne Williams consists of two separate but interconnected bird installations. The first comprises 45 cast glass birds perching on the pergola at the beginning of the trail. These birds are hybrid birds that have evolved from the exotic gene pool of parrots, cockatoos and budgies. They are brightly coloured, bold and beautiful yet have a slightly sinister presence – they are in fact ‘pirates’.
Dennison and Williams have created a fantasy-scape and woven a tale in which these birds have set flight from far off lands and have arrived to colonize these shores. They find themselves perched on the wooden structure at Brick Bay availing themselves of the excellent vantage point to spy on the lie of the land. The pirates can be seen as an invasion, a landing party, colonizers or scouts. Foreigners to the land, they make their presence felt, boldly and brashly. They are a gang looking for loot. This is not ‘their place’ but with their physical numbers they are muscling in on foreign territory. They are checking out the terrain, perched confidently on top of the wooden pole structure, as if it is their very own crow’s nest.
The second installation is a more discreet, subtle grouping of birds based on indigenous species. These smaller birds are subtly camouflaged to blend in with their environment. This group of ten birds is perched on the roof of the dilapidated ‘long drop’. They sense an imminent invasion of their territory and have alighted on a convenient structure to confer about the invaders that have landed. No confrontation is as yet evident, but a threat is present and a plan needs to be devised. What the future holds for the two groups is yet to be decided – pirates are tricky customers to deal with; they are a law unto themselves. The fact that the viewer is not physically able to view the work in one location but has to actively seek out the two flocks, in itself speaks of territorial occupation and invasion of space.
Dr Robin Woodward