“Bower” Installation by Driscoll and Hwang at Artpark in Buffalo
Installation of Bower, the inaugural commission by Artpark Laboratory, has been completed at Artpark in Lewiston, NY. Bower is an arrangement of architectural fragments hosting birdhouses by Prospectus artist Ellen Driscoll (Distant Mirrors Website and FASTFORWARDFOSSIL Paintings on Recycled Plastic) and architect Joyce Hwang. Etched glass windows (created from drawings by Driscoll) in the architecture promote awareness of local bird species, and draw attention to the ever-increasing perils of bird-strike window collisions and deaths.
The outlines of the structures emulate the vernacular architecture of the Lewiston area but could be stand-ins for homes almost anywhere in the country. These fragments, invite the viewer to imagine what has been forgotten, or lost, or what might be created in the future.
Driscoll’s drawings depict local species of birds that have come to prefer human structures in which to nest. Some, like the purple martin, make an annual journey of 3,000 miles from North America to Latin America and back again. The surface of the windows made from Driscoll’s drawings are overlaid with grids of dots, a pattern which prevents birds from colliding with the panes of glass. Other highlighted bird species are eastern bluebirds, black capped chickadees, the house wren, the eastern phoebe, tree swallows, the tufted titmouse and the red-breasted nuthatch.
Bower is the first newly commissioned work created by Artwork in collaboration with CALL/City as Living Laboratory to establish an experimental program for Artpark as the first step to establish a laboratory there that makes “sustainability tangible through the arts” and to contribute to an effort to revive the mission of Artpark as a center for creative experimentation and innovation.
Below is Driscoll’s rendering for the purple martin window:
