mel chin

The Conditions for Memory

Labrador Duck: 1875

Heath Hen: 1932


Sea Mink: 1890

Passenger Pigeon: 1914

1989
cast stone

Originally installed in New York’s Central Park, Conditions for Memory is a four-part sculpture recalling the extinction of animal species native to the East Coast. The Sea Mink, Heath Hen, Passenger Pigeon, and Labrador Duck are represented by negative casts of those animals’ bodies configured as non-functional molds, unable to replicate the specimens. Each element is inscribed with the year of the given species’ extinction.