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Photos: Step Inside This Giant Birdcage In Chelsea
By
Scott Lynch
Published Mar 25, 2016
Modified Mar 25, 2016
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Photo by Scott Lynch/Gothamist
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By
Scott Lynch
Published Mar 25, 2016
Modified Mar 25, 2016
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There are 22 zebra finches and canaries living in a giant birdcage in Chelsea right now, their spacious, temporary home elaborately furnished with an 11-foot white oak and, a bit more unusually, a complete library of bird-related books and ephemera, which the adorable little creatures have now shit all over.
The best part: you can go inside the cage and hang out with these songbirds, and watch as they completely ignore the exhaustively documented ways in which humans have sought to categorize, understand, control, collect, and kill the nearly 10,000 different bird species.
The piece, by conceptual artist Mark Dion, is installed in the Tanya Bonakder Gallery through April 16th and is called "The Library for the Birds of New York." It's clever, immersive, amusing, and instantly engaging. So as not to totally disturb our winged friends, there are only four people are allowed in the cage at once, so there may be a wait during the gallery's Saturday hours.
The Library is definitely the centerpiece of Dion's exhibition here, but you should go upstairs too, where "Other Marvels" by the artist await. There's a "Cabinet of Marine Debris," for example, displaying neatly sorted trash from the sea, and "An Archaeology of Disorder" trophy case, in which every object alludes to a specific mental affliction.
(Photo by Scott Lynch/Gothamist)
The most fascinating piece upstairs is Dion's "Memory Box," an actual shed packed with hundreds of old tins and boxes to rummage through and open up, each one containing a different bit of someone else's past inside. Some of these contents are cute, others mysterious, and a few off-putting, but since you never know what to expect, and can't possibly look through them all, the serendipity factor is sky high.
Mark Dion's "The Library for the Birds of New York and Other Marvels" will be at Tanya Bonakdar through April 16th. The gallery is located at 521 West 21st Street, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tagged
Chelsea
finches and canaries
giant birdcage
mark dion
The Library for the Birds of New York and Other Marvels
original
Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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