"I'd like there to be a story about a man who built a birdhouse big enough for him to sleep in, and dragged it to the ocean. And I want that story to be true."This was the inspiration behind one of the most intriguing shedlike atmospheres that's ever been sent to Shedworking: Christopher Robbins staged what he calls an "undercover collaborative performance" in Marquette, Nebraska, by taking a rusty old railway cart and building a birdhouse from recycled barn wood on top. His aim? To drag it all along the Oregon Pioneer Trail to the sea. Sadly he got stopped three days later by a Sheriff who asked him to desist. Here's what he says about the project which he undertook while Artist in Residence at the Nebraska Art Farm:
"Along the way, I ate and slept in that birdhouse, and ran into a number of difficulties, and involved a lot of people. I had constructed the birdhouse so that I could barely manage it alone, and so I often required the help of strangers to keep me on my way. My first day on the road the birdhouse toppled into a 6-foot ditch on the side of the road, and I required a nearby farmers' tractor to rescue it. The smallest puddle or incline forced me to flag down passing trucks for help pushing the birdhouse.(Photograph by Ed Dadey, Director of Art Farm Nebraska)
Sometimes (but not always) I was asked to explain why I was pushing this birdhouse, and, not willing to spoil the illusion of the experience by writing it off as "art," I explained how I had put every icon for freedom I could think of - birds, life on the road, the pioneers - into this one craft. I was doing this for freedom!"
There are lots more photos at Christopher's Flickr site and a video of the birdhouse in the ditch incident which is well worth a look.
this made my day
ReplyDeleteAnd mine.
ReplyDeleteThis makes no sense to me at all. Bird brain.
ReplyDeletethat's Big bird brain, WA Jill!
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