THE END OF THE DAYDREAM159these birds, would they look distinctive from each other or not? And is it
perhaps this aesthetic replaceability characterizing human/animal poli-
tics at this very time that Horn’s operation hints at?
Observation of the diptychs in Bird reveals that in some pairs, it is the
same bird that is photographed, sometimes captured from a slightly dif-
ferent angle (fig. 4.7). In others, it clearly is two different birds of the same
species that have been juxtaposed. Paradoxically, by infringing the con-
ventional route to species identification and concealing the animal attri-
butes that have been selected to embody such coordinates in the history
of taxonomy, we cease to see the specimen standing in for the species and
begin to see an individual bird through the idiosyncratic nuances of its
plumage. Through photography, Horn has staged an experience that met-
aphorically alludes to animal unknowability while also inviting the
viewer to look more carefully, beyond the pre-encoded knowledge ac-
quired elsewhere.
FIGURE 4.7 Roni Horn, Bird (detail), 1998/2007. Iris and pigment printed photo-
graphs on Somerset Satin paper. Ten pairs (twenty pieces), 22 × 22 in. (55.9 × 55.9 cm)
each. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth. © Roni Horn.