Ida Lawrence Indonesian–Australian, b. 1988
Superstition in the Pigeon, 2023-2025
oil on clear primed canvas, wooden prop(osal)s
155 cm x 120 cm
Currency:
This work draws from a 1940s psychology study titled ''Superstition' in the Pigeon'. The study describes behaviour shaped by repetition, and she began thinking about how saying a word over...
This work draws from a 1940s psychology study titled "'Superstition' in the Pigeon". The study describes behaviour shaped by repetition, and she began thinking about how saying a word over and over can tip into a similar neurosis, sound detaches from meaning, and the word becomes strange, empty, or talismanic. Is there a kind of superstition embedded in that act? If so, is the superstition in the word itself, or in the person repeating it? Lawrence became preoccupied with the question: who is the pigeon here?
