Conceptual artists and black birds

from Thirteen Ways of Considering Black Birds by John Bennett and John Laidler

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For his proposed Guggenheim show of 1971, Hans Haacke tried to teach a mynah (a black Asian Hill Myna, Gracula religiosa) the phrase, ‘All systems go’. Installed in the gallery, the caged bird was meant to repeat the phrase. The bird’s reluctance, or inability, to parrot the phrase cancelled the piece, ‘Norbert: All Systems Go’.

Haacke believed art can reveal the interconnections of all systems of any complexity. The show consisted of a three-part investigation into physical, biological, and social systems. The Guggenheim cancelled it because of the last section, in particular a conceptual piece documenting, through charts, maps, diagrams and photographs, the machinations of one of the city’s largest slumlords.

Conceptual artists were beginning to engage in institutional critiques, wanting to expand the role of the artist and expose the foundations and framework of the art world, and escape into the real world. He still has considerable influence and much relevance now that activists are investigating museums and galleries for their ethics.
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Haake was a member of The Art Worker’s Coalition formed in New York, 1969, concerned about the lack of representation of women artists and artists of colour, as well as the Vietnam war and artists’ rights.