Invasion (UFO Possums) 2017
Maker
Michael Cook
(1968)
Date2017
Object number00055776
NamePhotographic Works
MediumPhotographic Inkjet prints
DimensionsOverall: 1530 × 2239 mm
Image: 1353 × 1997 mm
Image: 1353 × 1997 mm
Copyright© Michael Cook
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionInvasion (UFO possums) is sited back on the Thames, with young children fleeing the arrival of the strange furry animals. They are symptomatic of strange creatures brought to Britain as specimens for study, which included Aboriginals like Bennelong (c.1764–1813) who was brought to London by Captain Arthur Philip in 1792.
HistoryInvasion explores a savage attack — albeit leavened by its irony, flawless beauty of execution, retro-look and dated sensibility — with deliberately heightened drama. These elements assist its fiction, returning the brutal treatment that Australian Aboriginals have suffered, starting two hundred and thirty years ago, at the hands of British colonists. In the current atmosphere of climate change and environmental threat, the incursion of malevolent nature in the form of invading animals also channels a natural subversion that overthrows human dominance and control.
SignificanceContemporary Aboriginal perspective on first contact and colonisation. Draws on the story of Tasmanian man Woorrady, who had been transfixed on the sight of the first French ships.
