Fuglespor – AVIAN HUMAN
Codesign research as part of Conference of the Birds
FUGLESPOR / BIRD TRACES focused on exploring the traces of birds in a cityscape like Islands Brygge, where birds are considered unwelcome guests. How can we pay attention to their ways, their preferences – and what can we as humans learn from that? The workshop was developed in collaboration between design anthropologist Laura Winge and artist Nana Francisca Schottländer, based on our individual yet very related practices and methodologies of ‘Going Visiting’ (NFS) and ‘Visiting as a subject- and objectmaking dance’ (LW). We draw inspiration from the work of Donna Haraway and Vinciane Despret.
Conference of the Birds
The conference of the birds is a transdisciplinary and socially engaged art project exploring creative ways to coexist with birds in a more-than-human world. The project reflects on different bird cultures in the Nordic countries. We want to examine and understand shared human-avian histories and to create new lines of thought and action to ensure the continuance of our co-existence in an uncertain future.
The project commences with a series of site-specific collaborations between artists and bird researchers called Nests. These collaborations have become a series of ongoing events and exhibitions in the participating countries.
Fuglespor / Bird Traces
The workshop consisted of different steps, like a ritual: An invitiation into the ‘nest’ – our base for the day. A session of naming the birds on site, all the birds we know, and all the imaginary birds we can think of. An individual journey, looking for traces of the lives of the birds here: footprints, bodies, movement, feathers, nesting material, food, pathways and more.
Then we all came back together in the ‘nest’ to draw, write and otherwise record our thoughts, realizations and experiences of the day. In the end, we collaboratively created a clay egg, full of sunflower seeds and our hopes and intentions for the future of bird/human coexistence.
In the summer, the egg was placed in a remote corner of Sydhavnstippen, originally a landfill or scrapyard now turned protected natural area (for the time being) in a braided grass nest to slowly disintegrate, commune with the land there and plant the seeds, the hopes and intentions for the future of bird/human coexistence to grow and blossom here.
Team
Laura Winge: codesign research and visual art.
Nana-Fransisca Schottländer: transdisciplinary artist and co-creation.
Credits
The Danish Nest is co-curated by Action-Philosopher Oleg Koefoed and bird expert Nikolaj Noel Christensen of the Danish Society of Ornithology at the University of Copenhagen LIFE sciences and the Danish Conservationist Society.
A huge thank you to Nordic Culture Point, Nordic Culture Fund, Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter, Barentskult, KORO, Arts Council of Satakunta, Billedkunstneres vederlagsfond, Göteborg Stad, Finnish Art Council, Niilo Helander Foundation, Samuel Huber Art Foundation and Pori Art Museum for supporting the project.
Links
Conference of the Birds
Danish Nest: Avian-Human
Nana Fransisca Schottländer
Oleg Kofoed
Nikolaj Noel Christensen
