Research image. Play gym from Bonka Bird Toys.

Research image. Rope perch, unbranded..

Research image. Play gym from Bonka Bird Toys.

Research image. Hanging gym from Exotic Wood Dreams.

Research image. Bird gym by Unbranded.

PUBLIC ART PROPOSAL:
WILD PARROT PLAYGROUND

Astria Suparak
2019 (unrealized)
astriasuparak.com/2019/08/01/wild-parrot-playground

Publication: The Hoosac Institute Journal #5, 2020.

A giant playground for the wild parrots that live in cities like San Francisco, Pasadena, Chicago, Austin, Miami, Perth, and Auckland.

This colorful bird gym will be brimming with chew toys, rope knots, swings, perches, and shiny bells for the whole flock. Providing distinctive activities from the usual options of the cityscape, the playground may be comfortingly familiar to recently released or escaped parrots and other medium sized birds.

Location: Possible sites include public parks and pedestrian plazas near where parrots roost or along their flight paths. It would likely be placed at tree top level, although human viewing platforms could be incorporated or it would be sited where publicly-accessible balconies and patios already exist.

Form: A single temporary sculpture, or a series of sculptures designed by different artists.

Featured Materials: Cotton rope for parrots to untie, shreddable soft wood chunks, and other bird safe materials.

This project was conceived while in residence at Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, California, where a flock of feral parrots flew over the residence every day at sunrise and dusk. The tropical birds were always at a distance, and this would be a way to observe them more closely without disturbing them.