Erik Berglin: The Bird Project 2006-2017 Special Edition
About
The Bird Project special edition is limited to 30 copies, each book placed in a fluorescent blue, yellow or pink acrylic glass slipcase with an inkjet print, signed and numbered by the artist. It si also available in a regular edition.
In the blue slipcase: inkjet print of Lamprotornis Regius
In the pink slipcase: inkjet print of Pelecanus Occidentalis
In the yellow slipcase: inkjet print of Terathopius Ecaudatus
Over a period of twelve years, Stockholm based artist Erik Berglin wheat-pasted 4982 hand cut images of birds in natural scale, in twelve cities around the world. Each bird was placed in a carefully selected location, and subsequently documented by the artist, who works with photography as his primary medium.
For the duration of the project, Berglin sourced ornithology books in antiquarian bookshops and libraries. Their illustrations were scanned, edited and reprinted. Berglin spent countless hours with a scalpel and a pair of scissors, tracing the contours of the birds to free them of their paper imprisonment. Each year, Berglin traveled to a new city for his project. From start to end, a total of 4982 birds were wheat-pasted in twelve cities on five continents, including New York, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin and Reykjavik.
In a time of animal spread viruses and worldwide mass extinction in the wake of the climate crisis, Berglin’s project can be approached from many angles. What caused these birds to seek refuge in urban environments, so far away from their natural habitat? What feelings does the sighting of a bald eagle in central London evoke? Is it merely a painful reminder of the once rich fauna, which today fights for survival in the steadily decreasing gaps in-between our cities? Or does it bring hope of a potential co-existence, made possible by these curious birds’ ability to adapt to a man-made world? Perhaps, the bird is merely a Poesque metaphor for something else?
"The Bird Project 2006-2017" features 101 plates printed in a highly complex process where the regular CMYK colors of the offset printing press have been replaced with fluorescent counterparts. The result is a much more vivid colour space than what would have been possible to achieve using traditional printing techniques. The plates are silkscreen coated with high gloss UV varnish, adding further to the depth and vividness of the colours. An index of all the latin names of the 4982 birds, along with the addresses where they were pasted, is included as a folded poster.
The regular edition of the book is printed in 500 copies.
About the artist:
Erik Berglin (b. 1980), received an MFA 2010 from Valand, Gothenburg, and now lives and works in Stockholm. His works range from interventions in public space to examination and appropriation of social phenomena and material found online and in books. Berglin takes an investigative approach to the medium of photography, examining both its technical possibilities and limitations as well as the boundaries between fact and fiction.
Berglin is represented by Galleri Thomassen in Gothenburg. His work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in both museums and private collections. Over the last 14 years, Berglin has received a number of considerable grants, including double two year working grants from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.
Special Edition of 30 printed on Arctic Silk Paper
Fluorescent inks and high-gloss UV coating finish
Book Design by Lundgren+Lindqvist
208 pages, 101 plates
20,7 x 28 cm
Numbered fluorescent acrylic glass slipcase
Inkjet print (14,8×21 cm)
