Description

The most significant cause of bird mortality in urban areas is collision with glass, as birds in flight are often unable to distinguish clear glass from open air. No Crash Zone is a temporary renovation of a window in the Carson, Pirie, Scott Building to make visible the logics of bird-strike prevention. The project explores how we can consider the subjectivity of non-human species, while still enhancing human desires, such as views from inside out. With a nod to the tiling pattern framing the building’s windows, the project aims to create visual interference patterning through the deployment of graphic ornament, reconsidering its role beyond agendas of aesthetic composition. The installation also taps into the fundamental construction of human vision by overtly referencing the one-point Renaissance perspective, as well as more contemporary optical tactics such as camouflage through pixilation.