A Flock Without a Murder was commissioned by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden as part of their “For the Birds” series. Amongst other programs, the series invited Kyle May, Architect and Jimenez Lai of Bureau Spectacular, along with 33 other artists and designers, to create bespoke birdhouses for a temporary exhibit in the gardens.
A birdhouse is a structure that is meant to attract birds; a scarecrow, meanwhile, is an object meant to keep birds away. This birdhouse – a towering Ipe wood monolith standing 12-feet high, three-feet wide, three-feet deep, and weighing more than 3,000 lbs – toes the line between scarecrow and birdhouse. In this way, the visual representation of the object communicates polar opposites, and the object itself becomes a means of intermediating between humans and non-humans. Small apertures with deep spaces for nesting provide the inhabitants with a comfortable home, while the imposing form keeps unwanted occupants at bay.
Client: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Program: Cultural, Birdhouse
Status: Built
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Team:
Architect: KM,A (Kyle May, Kaya Ramirez) and Bureau Spectacular (Jimenez Lai)
Fabrication: KM,A (Kyle May, John Diven, Kaya Ramirez, Jesse Lane)
Images: KM,A