ANIMAL ESTATE regional model homes 5.0: PORTLAND, OREGON
Commissioned by The Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College / August 26th - October 5th, 2008 / Tours by curator Stephanie Snyder of other Estates around town for the TBA festival / Closing event, discussion, and screening on the Reed College lawn on the afternoon of Sunday, October 5th
build a better snag*!
A challenge to build your own Portland Animal Estate, a multiple unit vertical dwelling tower for native species. The prototype is on view from August 26 - October 5, 2008 at The Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Portland, Oregon. Visit the links for the animal clients and local organizations below below to inform your design. Submit documentation of your Estate to snyders@reed.edu for display in the gallery. * A snag is a dead tree!
clients...
5.1: Vaux's Swift (Chaetura vauxi) - snag
5.2: White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) - nestbox
5.3: Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) - perch
5.4: Silver-Haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) - bat house
5.5: Northwestern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) - hibernaculum
5.6: Orange-Rumped Bumblebee (Bombus melanopygus) - nesting box –
5.7: Snail-eating Ground Beetle (Scaphinotus angulatus) - board cover
consultants...
Charlotte Corkran, Northwest Ecological Research Institute
Mike Houck, Urban Greenspaces Institute
Christopher Marshall, Oregon State Arthropod Collection, Department of Zoology, OSU
Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland
Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity
overview...
The Animal Estate - A collective model home to accommodate seven native species is designed, and a prototype installed in the gallery. The structure simulates a a snag, or dead tree. The structure takes the form of a chimney on top, approximately 24" square, and 10' tall, with horizontal supports at the base to accommodate terrestrial species. A local expert on each animal serves as consultant and collaborator, providing information on the animals needs, and advising on the construction and placement of the Estate. A drawing along with a brief is disseminated around town as a pdf flyer, encouraging local residents to make their interpretation of the Animal Estate on their own property.
The Exhibition - Part of the gallery space at Reed College is transformed into an operational headquarters housed in a geodesic tent. This includes books, videos, maps, charts, and other printed materials from previous editions of the project and gathered from local animal experts and wildlife organizations. Evidence of past Animal Estates in New York, Cambridge, and San Francisco is presented. This space serves as the interpretive center for the local edition of the project, indicating on a map where in Portland local residents have constructed their own version of the Animal Estate. Elements in the display include a welcoming, cushioned geodesic tent featuring the Animal Estates reading library on urban wildlife, and a short video by Dan Viens on the local swifts that roost in the chimney at Chapman Elementary, cork walls as bulletin boards displaying locally gathered materials on urban wildlife, and selected Animal Estates from the New York edition at the Whitney Biennial, and the San Francisco edition at SFMOMA.
Printed Material - A 36 page, 2 color field guide is designed by PS New York, and available in time for the October 5th closing. This includes essays by exhibition curator Stephanie Snyder, urban wildlife expert Mike Houck, along with essays on each of the animals by Tierra Curry, Carlotte Corkran, and Christopher Marshall. As with the previous 20 animal clients in other cities, postcards are produced on each of the animal clients. A printed poster and pdf flyer announces the Portland Animal Estate, and provides information on how to make your own.
Closing Event - On Sunday, October 5th, a closing event for the project, includes a panel discussion, the release of the Field Guide, and screening of the new 55 minute documentary by Dan Viens On the Wing, about the Vaux's Swifts at Portland's Chapman Elementary. Visit the gallery website for more information.
links...
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Center for Biological Diversity
credits...
commissioned by: Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College
consultants: Charlotte Corkran, Northwest Ecological Research Institute; Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity; Mike Houck, Urban Greenspaces Institute; Christopher Marshall, Oregon State Arthropod Collection, Department of Zoology, OSU; Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland
presenting a video by: Dan Viens, On the Wing
curator: Stephanie Snyder, John and Anne Hauberg Curator and Director
graphic design of identity and printed materials by: PS New York
research assistance: Colin Blodorn