An illustration of black birds sitting on a thin structure.

Alexey Buldakov

Russia
Architecture/Environment
Artist in Residence, 2015
http://urbanfaunalab.org

Artist Statement

It is scientifically proven that the human body is 50% water, and 50% weeds and other animals, including humans. We can switch to a larger scale and observe the city as organism, a natural reservoir for multitudes of species competing for resources. Despite the fact that the city was built by humans and for humans (our cars and factories and so on) other species manage to breed and prosper within it. I find this miraculous. How they survive our presence?

Urban Fauna Laboratory is a platform for observation and description of mutual adaptation of different species in urban environment. My main interest is in such cases and processes as interspecific reciprocal altruism,  expansion/conservation of wildlife and interspecific sharing of architecture.

While At Headlands

Recently I’ve been thinking about games that may allow multiple species to form social networks. Games that may reveal interaction potential of birds and fish, and, say, chimpanzees or humans etc. It may be a familiar game of predator and prey. Or it may be a game of collaborative creation, like creating jewelry with a caddisfly.  Or the game of a prayer for all the living creatures to feel yourself a part of a swarm. Or what else?

City is a playground with scattered toys. Buildings are toys. Pigeon’s swarm intelligence is a toy. Human individual consciousness in also just a toy. The essential idea is this pigeon attractor, sculpture ‘99%’. I want to experiment with this type of the roost structures in the Bay Area. But first I have to know more about the land.

More work available here.