Created by Mika Haykowsky
Age Rating: 6+
A series of whimsical abstract bird feeders and sculptural nests created from a sense of scrappy bird magic. Magpies-turned artists are taking over.
Sky-Rat (Home)/Are Birds Real? brings whimsical abstract birdhouses and nests into the nooks of urban spaces. Magpies are the inspiration; our scrappy, industrious, and clever cohabitants of so-called “Edmonton.”
Inspired by cubist art and sculpture, the colourful geometric and amorphous birdhouses are installed in places where human connection to nature is lost and found.
Detective McPie is on a quest to find all three birdhouses – with the help of the public they will use a treasure map on an adventure during scheduled times throughout the Found Festival weekend (see more below!).
The birdhouses will play a soundscape melding local voices recounting their conspiracies, tales and miraculous encounters with Magpies. Along with shared voices, urban field-recordings and local bird sounds will engage audiences beyond the visual.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mika Haykowsky creates through playful, multidisciplinary projects involving intimacy, queer ecology, collective healing, and textures of the body. She is excited to be an artist in residency at Medalta Historic Clay district in September 2023, and she has completed 4 artist residencies in the last 4 years. She recently exhibited video art in Florida, USA and ceramics in Trondheim, Norway. Mika received an MFA in from NTNU (Norway), and a BFA from the University of Alberta. Her first solo show was presented at Latitude 53’s Garage Space in 2021, “Superspreader,” for which she was interviewed on CKUA. She continues to seek out artistic challenges, opportunities, and prompts, while striving to work with community, collaboration and skill sharing.
Instagram: @kahousemi
www.mikah.ca
HOW TO ENJOY SKY-RAT HOME:
LOCATIONS: Click here for a map! Head to each pin on the map starting at 5pm on Thursday, July 6 until the end of the Festival and look up into the canopies of trees around you. We recommend packing a pair of binoculars!
BONUS: Head out to the sites on July 8 or 9 from 2:00-4:00pm and you may come across a curious ornithologist named Detective McPie shedding a bit more light on the mysteries of these flying creatures above us…
Featuring Claudia Kulay.
