Untitled (Sphere)

Artist’s Proof
Mouse skulls, wood, glass

This artwork featured in House of Beasts (2012). Courtesy the Artist and All Visual Arts, London.

The owl, having swallowed its prey whole, slowly digests the nourishing, softer parts. It then regurgitates the indigestible bones, feathers and fur in the form of a pellet. To create his sculpture Alastair Mackie extracts mouse skulls from the pellets. With meticulous craftsmanship he turns this natural product into an object of fascination, beauty and scientific curiosity. A hint of the initial violence lingers in the fragility of the work.

Dissecting owl pellets is a common pursuit for children who grow up in the countryside. In the serious and learned surroundings of the Inner Library, this piece acts as a nostalgic reminder of childhood.

“I’m interested in systems – a complex whole formed from related parts…the owl pellets are a material that I became aware of living in the countryside as a child. I was interested in what these little packages represented in terms of much bigger things – life, death, regeneration and so on.”

Image: Alastair Mackie, Untitled (Sphere), installation view, House of Beasts, Attingham Park, 2012. Image courtesy of Meadow Arts. 

 

About the artist

Alastair Mackie

Alastair Mackie exhibited in Building Site (2014).

Alastair Mackie was commissioned for Building Site (2014) by Meadow Arts.

Image: Alastair Mackie, Epitaph. Found boulder, off-cut material, canvas, frame, installation view, Building Site, Hardwick Hall, 2014. A Meadow Arts commission (2014).