Outpost 1996

Conceived for an exhibit entitled Open House, curated by John O’Brien

The curator invited twenty one artists to address the architectural environment of the home. The exhibit design resembled the rooms of a suburban house and I was tasked with representing the back yard. I decided to make the most elaborate birdhouse i could imagine, combining elements of Dr. Suess, the Surveillance State, leisure culture and modernist design.

The Birdhouse atop its teetering pole is modeled after a Spanish Colonial Revival home (we have many of them in SoCal). In what would be the backyard of the birdhouse is a conveyor belt made from a belt sander and mounted with tourist postcards depicting beautiful locations. A video camera mounted inside the house shows the “view” out the living room window of whatever card is closest. Sitting in the seat (a repurposed Bertoia chaise), one could see, and change the view above by pressing a button on the viewing monitor (made from a repurposed grill cover and a two-iron).