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Years ago, Hale Tenger came across a story that she couldn’t forget. It was a fictional narrative about a hunting ploy used by aristocrats that turned birds into easy prey.

Before hunting season, hunters would cast nets over the forest, forcing birds to fly closer to the ground. By the time the hunt began, the birds had become so accustomed to low heights that they inevitably fell victim to the shooters.

Years ago, Hale Tenger came across a story that she couldn’t forget. It was a fictional narrative about a hunting ploy used by aristocrats that turned birds into easy prey.

Before hunting season, hunters would cast nets over the forest, forcing birds to fly closer to the ground. By the time the hunt began, the birds had become so accustomed to low heights that they inevitably fell victim to the shooters.

“If birds can forget to fly high in the sky, what have we humans forgotten?”

Although she was unable to trace the origins of the story, Tenger was so affected by it that she used it as a starting point for her latest public intervention titled Under, the psychological experience of which explores structures of power and control in our societies and communities. The artist poses the question, “If birds can forget to fly high in the sky, what have we humans forgotten?”, challenging our own learned behaviours and self-repression.

The form of the work is a free-standing structure placed in the middle of The Yard. Its exterior is similar to the warehouses of the Avenue, so much so that it’s easy to pass by it without realizing it is the artwork. Inside is a single tree with a net stretched under its branches, obstructing the view of the sky. A sound commission plays on speakers, with a woman’s voice narrating a poem.