As soon as we knew what site we would be working at I knew that I wanted to work in the forest areas and engage with the wildlife. The mill did not really inspire me but the feel in the forest was something that I wanted to concentrate on. Ruth and I agreed that the forest felt almost magical so that was the theme we began the project with.
One day I just started intuitively creating a bird out of a coke can, glueing it together with a hot glue gun just simply as a tester piece. After testing how it would look situated in a tree in the forest we realised the potential of this and the man-made vs nature themes. We decided to start using beer cans because we found out that some of the workers on the mill used to be paid in beer tokens which linked our project back to the history of the site.
Ruth and I had a discussion with a worker at the site and discovered that roughly 110 species of birds have been spotted at this site and he showed us a list of these birds. We decided that this was the number that we would aim for in making the can birds and we would make each one individual to represent each of the 110 species of birds. Once all 110 were made, we installed them down a little path leading up to a large tree in the centre of the forest.
You walk up the path towards the tree, spotting a few birds which at a first glance look like litter, so feeling intrigued you continue further up the path and suddenly you look up and realize you are completely surrounded by birds, both on the floor and up high in the branches. It suddenly changed from feeling magical to feeling almost scary, enhanced by the use of beer cans which give an even more sinister feel.
Our piece has allowed us to take some fantastic photographs; I especially like the photographs with rain drops on the birds, adding to the man-made vs natural thing. I’ve found that I notice something different every time I look at the piece. Even to this day the birds are a permanent fixture in the nature trail at Thwaites Mill Leeds, they have begun to come apart and are slowly showing signs of age and the effects of nature but that’s what makes it exciting and intriguing.
"Your birds are sitting in their trees, even now. They are gaudy, stiff and bright, treasures made from what other people throw away. Beer cans metamorphosed into something with half life, stiff wings and clumsy beaks tortured out of metal, half-emergent. They are sitting in their trees now, proud and mute, except for fragmented words -- "EXTR", "N DENMARK", "RLSBERG" -- except for the patter of rain on metal, an erratic heartbeat.
Are they rusting, now? Surely you must have tucked your creations back carefully under some shelter, pushed them under the green canopies of leaves -- not hidden, but sheltered. Surrounded and taken in by the living trees, the new leaves.
Winter has come since then, though, to strip away the leaves, banish the green light, peel away illusions to show the hard bright edges. Your birds sit immobile, cold, exposed. Your birds cannot fly away with the others. Their wings are locked. Their beaks do not open for their song.
Perhaps by some miracle they will sit untouched until the last day, if that day ever comes. Perhaps when you and I are long-dead and new-risen, your birds will stretch their awkward wings and fly before us, singing."
Written by Nikki Walters 2010