Talking Birds - Do You Mind That I am Sitting Here?

Talking birds, life-size bronze crows, solar panels, motion sensors, voice chips. Commissioned by New Urban West Valencia 2002

Several black bronze crows occupy different corners of a plaza in Valencia. Once someone approaches, they will sing one of the many rare bird calls they have stored on their voice chip. The birds are powered by a solar panel. An in-built motion sensor registers movements, which triggers the birds to sing. Their songs are calls of endangered or extinct bird species of Southern California.

Our bronze crows welcome back the native wildlife that might have been scared away during the construction phase of the housing development. We believe that living close to nature in Southern California means to create a symbiosis between our artificial environment and the previous high desert environment. Corvids, the family to which both ravens and crows belong, have learned to live next to the suburban sprinklers and seasonal washes of the winter rains. Cast in Bronze - the crows are a humble monument to the possibility of a unique suburban habitat. - Ulke & Collaborators 2003. (Mark Allen, electronics, Roger Presburger, landscape architect, determined placement and bases of the birds)

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