A Flock Without a Murder - Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden
For the Birds

A Flock Without a Murder

Bureau Spectacular & Kyle May, Architect
Timber, hardwood
30 in. × 30 in. × 12 ft.
Aster Field in the Plant Family Collection

A large geometric birdhouse made of long wooden planks.
A Flock Without a Murder birdhouse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
An artistic slightly spooky collage showing a vertical slab-like birdhouse in a verdant setting.
Concept art by Jimenez Lai.

A Flock Without a Murder rethinks the relationship between crows and scarecrows—what is seen by one bird species as a warning can be seen by others as a safe haven. This birdhouse, standing 12 feet tall, towers over the human viewer. “The scarecrow is a structure that allows us to talk to other species, like crows,” says artist Jimenez Lai. “It’s a conversation between humans and nonhumans.”

  • Photos of two men, one with dark hair and glasses, the other with sandy hair and a beard.

    Jimenez Lai (b. 1979, Taiwan) lived in a desert shelter at Taliesin and later a shipping container on the piers of Rotterdam before founding Bureau Spectacular. His first book, Citizens of No Place (Princeton Architectural Press), was supported by the Graham Foundation. MoMA, SFMOMA, Art Institute of Chicago, and LACMA have collected his work.

    Artist website: bureau‑spectacular.net
    Instagram: @0super @_bureauspectacular

    Kyle May (b. 1984, U.S.) is a registered architect and founded his Brooklyn-based firm, Kyle May, Architect PC, in 2014. He is a Graham Grant recipient for his research on Wallace Harrison and has coedited 20 books and curated exhibitions including one at the Art Institute of Chicago.

    Artist website: kylemayarchitect.com

Photos: Jimenez Lai; Kyle May

Listen

Wounded Bird
Kurt Vile

This recording from The Birdsong Project was selected to complement this birdhouse.

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Logo: Warby Parker