Book for birds

Two channel HD video, sound, 1m 30s

2023

Book for birds contains written observations of things I found strange or new but that could be considered quotidian details of a city I was living in temporarily.

One material I was exploring at that time was printable paper embedded with non-invasive seeds, developed both large- and small-scale as an ‘ecological’ product, but about which I was told anecdotes of their failure to germinate because ‘birds get to them first’.

To avoid having birds ingest printer ink, the text was surfaced using a bookbinding tool (a Japanese screw punch) and a dot font template to make holes; a gesture that I realized mimics how birds might peck at seeds and fruit.

The outdoor video and sound component record the book just outside Gasworks where robins and magpies frequent a hanging birdfeeder, and birdsong can be heard in the surrounding trees and bushes day and night amidst the noise of nearby construction work.


Gasworks Residency for Artists Based in the Philippines
9 Jan - 27 Mar 2023

With special thanks to Christian Salablanca Diaz