Urban Pigeon Fanciers
Pigeon leg bands, whistles, bird training equipments, wires, perspex, resin, LED lights, motor, gears
白鴿足環、 哨子 、 鳥類訓練設備、馬達、齒輪、樹脂、LED燈
40 × 58 × 63 cm
2023
Urban Pigeon Fanciers is inspired by a conversation between Mr. Leung, a pigeon keeper in Hong Kong, and an interviewer. When asked about the happiness of his kept pigeons, Mr. Leung expressed a contradictory statement, “I drive my pigeons every morning to the border and let them fly back to my place in the city. I feel so contained when I watch my pigeons fly up and high so freely.” This dialogue serves as a profound catalyst for my artistic exploration.
My work elicits discussion about city and freedom, portraying the relationship between pigeon fanciers and their birds.
Pigeon training tools such as training whistles, pigeon leg bands, bird feeders, bird toys, and watches, are assembled into a light-emitting kinetic sculpture.
These tools symbolise the manipulation exerted by the keeper over the pigeons. Silhouettes of these tools are projected onto the wall, tracing the flight routes of the pigeons as they return from the outskirts of the city to their homes and cages nestled within densely populated urban areas.
I use the metaphor of the pigeon keeper and the pigeon to mirror the relationship between the city's governance and the citizens. This work asks the question, whether the citizens can escape from the restrictions or changes brought by urban development, while urban culture, urban landscape, street corners, and historical shops change, following the vicissitudes of time.