Icarus

© Alice Jankovic - Detail of Icarus' legs while drowning from the1958 painting 'The Fall of Icarus' by the artistPeter Bruegel the Elder

Dates

2024 - 2025
Author

Alice Jankovic
Location Italy, Italy

Inspired by Bruegel’s *The Fall of Icarus*, this work reflects on human indifference to non-human intelligences. Icarus, merging man and bird, invites us to imagine a world of harmony and collaboration beyond human limits.

Starting from the painterly masterpiece "The Fall of Icarus" by Pieter Bruegel, with a gaze suspended between the protagonist and the observer, we come face to face with the inherent indifference and disregard of humanity towards the surrounding world, and more specifically, towards non-human intelligences. This activates a journey of reimagining that starts from myth and traverses through culture and science.

The image of Icarus, symbolizing the union of man with the bird, presents an opportunity to break free from the limitations of human intellect and conceive of a world where harmony and collaboration with other species becomes the dominant reality.

Inspired by Bruegel's The Fall of Icarus, I asked several people what they saw in the painting, noting that many ignored the tragedy in the background. This reveals society's indifference to what doesn't concern its interests. The colors, inspired by the UV spectrum visible to birds, reflect who does or doesn't see the tragedy.

Painting 'The Fall of Icarus' from 1958 by theartist Peter Bruegel the Elder

Detail of Icarus' legs while drowning from the1958 painting 'The Fall of Icarus' by the artistPeter Bruegel the Elder

Photograph depicting a turkey, gazing intently.This animal is part of the popular tradition ofthe Hopi, an indigenous Amerindian people,who associate the turkey with therepresentation of the Earth's wilderness, anentity that man can never dominate or control.

The rich, multi-sensory plumage of birds symbolizes the diverse intelligences in the animal kingdom. Like colors in a spectrum, each cognitive trait is unique and adaptive, revealing forms of intelligence beyond human understanding. Bird feathers thus reflect a broader, non-human perspective on how intelligence manifests in the world.

The noticeboard, both enigmatic and unsettling, symbolizes how we confine animals—like birds—within scientific frameworks, limiting their essence. Yet its emptiness invites enchantment and detachment from reality, revealing a form of intelligence that transcends the human.

A point of rupture with the usual, agateway that leads us into the unknown,into a reality that exceeds the limits of ourcurrent knowledge. Such a point of ruptureinvites us to re-imagine the whole.

Graphic work on fabric inspired by Martin Wikelski’s ICARUS project, which studies animal social behavior to learn from it. By tracking animals via sensors, the project promotes a non-anthropocentric ethic, symbolized by a honeycomb—representing life’s constant renewal.

The bird that, with graceful descent,overcomes barriers with impetuousness,conveys its determination and will to gobeyond limits, just as Icarus did.

A photo inspired by a Mozambican community’s sound-based cooperation with ‘honeyguide’ birds, showing how humans and animals can collaborate without training. This mutual exchange symbolizes the need for interspecies openness and cooperation.

Raw beeswax revealing a wing symbolizes the potential for harmony between humans and nature. Its unshaped form reflects a bond still in progress, urging mutual respect and care. The reference to Icarus reminds us to reflect on our limits and ambitions toward the more-than-human world.

Icarus by Alice Jankovic

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