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Elizabeth Turk

Tipping Point: Echoes of Extinction

October 1 – November 20, 2020

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of wood discs layered and arranged to resemble a Modernist abstraction and a sound wave

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)
Brown Pelican, 2020
Cherry, 81 1/2 inches (height) x 14 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Brown Pelican, please click here

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of wood discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Bush Wren, 2020

Cherry, 90 inches (height) x 17 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Bush Wren, please click here

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of wood discs layered and arranged to resemble a Modernist abstraction and a sound wave

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Bald Eagle (Standing), 2020

Cherry, 90 inches (height) x 17 1/2 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Bald Eagle, please click here

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of black aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

group installation of various extinct (black) and endangered (blue) birds, as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of colored aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

detail of group installation of various extinct (black) and endangered (blue) birds, as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of blue aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Banded Cotinga, 2020

Anodized aluminum, 76 inches (height) x 13 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Banded Cotinga, please click here

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of black aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

group installation of various extinct birds, as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of black aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

detail of group installation of various extinct birds, as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of black aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Brace’s Emerald, 2020

Anodized aluminum, 83 inches (height) x 16 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Brace's Emerald's closest living relative, the Cuban Emerald, please click here

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of colored aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

group installation of an extinct bird (black) and two endangered birds (green, gold), as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of colored aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

detail of a group installation of an extinct bird (black) and two endangered birds (green and gold), as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of green aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Red-browed Parrot, 2020

Anodized aluminum, 69 inches (height) x 17 1/2 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Red-browed Parrot, please click here

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of gold aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble a Modernist abstraction and a sound wave

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Pinto's Spinetail, 2020

Anodized aluminum, 67 inches (height) x 17 1/2 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Pinto's Spinetail, please click here

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of silver aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Sei Whale, 2019

Anodized aluminum, 44 1/2 inches (height) x 17 1/2 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the Sei Whale, please click here

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of aluminum discs layered and arranged to resemble a Modernist abstraction and a sound wave

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

North Pacific Right Whale, 2019

Anodized aluminum, 50 1/2 inches (height) x 17 1/2 inches (diameter)

To hear the call of the North Pacific Right Whale, please click here

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of 3D-printed discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Carolina Parakeet (model), 2019

3D FDM print, ABS filament, with graphene-based white paint, 37 inches (height) x 7 inches (diameter)

Proposed edition of 3

To hear the call of the Carolina Parakeet's closest living relatives, please click here

sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of 3D-printed discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

Bush Wren (model) and Carolina Parakeet (model), both 2019, seen together

a sculpture by Elizabeth Turk of 3D-printed discs layered and arranged to resemble a sound wave and a modernist abstraction

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

Bush Wren (model), 2019

3D FDM print, ABS filament, with graphene-based white paint

24 inches (height) x 9 inches (diameter)

Proposed edition of 3

two small bronze sculptures by Elizabeth Turk of discs layered and arranged to resemble Modernist abstractions and a sound waves

Bush Wren 1 and Bush Wren 2, both bronze sculptures, as part of Elizabeth Turk, Tipping Point - Echoes of Extinction

a suite of five abstract drawings by Elizabeth Turk of white discs layered on top of each other

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

The Air We Breathe 2 (Suite of 5), 2020

Getty fire ash and charcoal on paper, 24 x 18 inches each

an abstract drawing by Elizabeth Turk of white discs layered on top of each other

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

The Air We Breathe 4, 2020

Getty fire ash and charcoal on paper, 18 x 24 inches

an abstract drawing by Elizabeth Turk of white discs layered on top of each other

Elizabeth Turk (b. 1961)

The Air We Breathe 5 and 6, 2020

Getty fire ash and charcoal on paper, 24 x 18 inches each

Press Release

As we celebrate 20 years representing Elizabeth Turk, Hirschl & Adler Modern is proud to present an exciting new project, Tipping Point—Echoes of Extinction, the latest body of work by the internationally-recognized sculptor. While furthering her exploration into the overlap of art and nature, Turk confronts a globally important issue: Extinction. Tipping Point employs sculpture, sound, and technology to ask: what role can humans play in the preservation of a species, including our own? Are we at a tipping point?

Turk highlights this relevant environmental concern with her Sound Columns—elegant visualizations of the lost voices of birds and sea mammals. These twenty-seven sculptures, fabricated in wood, aluminum, 3-D printed ABS filament, and bronze, take their form directly from the calls of various animals that are, today, extinct or endangered. The recordings, many sourced from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, are visually represented by lines of varying lengths, usually read from left to right with louder sounds indicated by longer lines. Turk has reoriented the sonograms vertically and translated this data into three dimensions, yielding compositionally unique, Modernist sculptures. That the bird and sea mammal calls selected by the artist are of endangered or extinct animals underscores the harsh reality that these recordings are some of the few remaining traces we have left of these creatures.

Technology is an important component to this project, in both form and concept. Diverging from her celebrated, hand-carved marble sculpture, Turk employs advancements in fabrication technology, including CNC machinery, to work with the variety of materials on view. Additionally, the installation at Hirschl & Adler Modern includes a scannable QR code for each sculpture by which the viewer can access a recording of that animal’s call. With each sculpture, Turk joins the aural and the visual, giving form to what is, or could soon be, lost.

Turk, in her own words, eloquently summarizes this project:

Tipping Point was conceived in reverence to the astounding lives the species which envelop humans have lived and the mysterious ways they have contributed to our well-being. The shadows of their memory, whether a shape or a sound, have inspired this project. These structures are made for interaction to prompt thought and spark conversation by begging the question, “Are we creating a silence?”

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