BHAKTI BAXTER

Non-Human Sentient Beings and Southern Comfort

John LeKay:  Where did you take the photos of the non sentient beings and the birds?

 Bhakti Baxter:  I went off the trail in Matheson Hammocks Park in Miami in search of spiders, ants, birds etc. I came upon lots of  spiders with their intricate webs and began shooting. It was very hot and mosquitoes were biting me all over.  It was about 3:00 in the afternoon. I was just looking for creatures that know how to build things.   The need came from an interest in non-human sentient beings, living things that, like humans, have awareness of some sort and therefore embody a similar experience.  I mean that these animals are capable of feeling, having the power of sense perception.

 

 BB: These photos were taken this past fall/winter in Miami only a block away from my studio. Every day during this time of year massive amounts of birds that have flown here from somewhere up north would gather in the area. Just around sunset they would perform a ritual where each one, seemingly at the same time, would leap off the power lines where they rested on and dance in the sky in an astonishing display of synchronized movement. After a few minutes of flight they would all line up again on the wires and do the dance all over again.
 

Birds (Southern Comfort) #'s 1- 4