You Were Found

Camille Henrot (b. 1978, Paris, France) lives in New York, New York.

You Were Found is a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of a barn owl. Traditionally, the barn owl is associated with keen observation, intelligence, and witchcraft and magic, symbolizing the afterlife. Though nocturnal and rarely seen, the owl at the Spur makes itself known—taking a rest from flight on the Plinth. One of its legs is wounded, replaced with a wooden peg. Its tail unfurls into a scroll—the top sheet of paper in a stack of pages that come to form its perch, the pedestal. The work’s title suggests a simultaneous resistance to perception and control, alongside a desire to be seen. Has the owl found its prey, or have you found her? Are we bird-watching, or do the birds watch us? Henrot’s sculpture is a meditation on seeing and being seen, highlighting the idea that observation is an innately active posture.