You may have seen every James Bond movie, but have you counted, photographed, and classified the birds that fly through the frames of each film? Artist Taryn Simon has done all of the above. The photographer, known for her obsession with cataloging her subject matter in a scientifically precise manner, has just mounted a new show, Birds of the West Indies, at Gagosian Beverly Hills.

The two-part exhibition, running through April 12, includes a room filled with a photographic inventory of the women, weapons, and vehicles from the 24 completed films that’s sure to captivate centerfold seekers and automobile collectors alike. Simon sees her latest subjects as “accessories to James Bond, accessories that support a powerful, western, male figure,” and she created a taxonomy of actors’ names, fictional film names, and the year the item or person appeared in a Bond film to accompany each image. She shot weapons with a black background and the guns, knives, and ballpoint pen grenades appear to be floating in space. Simon says she shot the women with a white background to “signify that they’re aging.” The artist intentionally used the sort of lighting found in product photography for the cars, planes, and yachts so that they appear pristine and flawless. As an exhibition viewer, you identify with Bond and feel as if you are the title character surrounded by all of your toys and requisite accoutrements.

After working with government agencies on projects involving prisoners, war crimes, and property seized at U.S. Customs, Simon says she imagined this Bond undertaking would be easy. “I thought I can get actors to work with me, but I found even more rejection,” she says. “Most of it was due to vanity. Women were pregnant or they’ve aged and they didn’t want to be photographed.” Simon is known for neutral and simple portraits with expressionless subjects and she says this project marks the first time she “engaged in theatrics.” Former Bond women including Eva Green (Vesper Lynd), Grace Jones (May Day), and Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore) brought in clothing for their shoots and Simon let them chose how they would appear. Jones posed in an abbreviated suit, impersonating Bond himself. “They could carry out the glamour of the narrative or appear totally different than their characters,” Simon says.

Simon selected the Gagosian’s larger sunlit room for the second part of her show. Hung throughout the space are photographs of each bird that appears onscreen in the 24 existing Bond films. Each fowl is identified and classified, resulting in a taxonomy of winged creatures that references a book also called Birds of the West Indies, published by the American ornithologist James Bond in 1936. Ian Fleming, an avid bird watcher who penned the Bond novels, appropriated the American author’s name for his title character because he found it to be anonymous and colorless. The connection inspired Simon’s relentless pursuit of the birds in Bond films. A copy of the birding book appears in the exhibition as well as a snapshot of each bird categorized by both the actual locations where they’re found (Switzerland, Afghanistan, North Korea) and the mythical settings of Bond’s missions (the Republic of Isthmus, etc.). “It was liberating to do something that had such a snapshot quality,” Simon says. “I watched the films multiple times with others and I’d like to think we got all the birds.” The entire space is designed to mimic the way scientists would display and chart the types of species they study. Indeed, the fictional Bond, an intelligence officer, would approve of the systematic quality of Simon’s work, though he might bemoan the absence of a circular bed.

By Elizabeth Varnell

 

Pictured: Taryn Simon
Photo by Jiro Schneider

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