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| pigeon Steps | Intervention at Walking's New Movements conference, University of Plymouth 2019 | Photo: Claire Hind |
pigeon steps
walk heel to toe, alert to the peripheral
gravitate with others to potential gifters
walk heel to toe, alert to the peripheral
gravitate with others to potential gifters
continue to inhabit a state of expectancy
pigeon steps was devised by myself and Megan Calver to investigate the walking movements of feral pigeons. It was first presented as a participatory provocation at the 'Walking's New Movements' conference, University of Plymouth, 1-3 November 2019.
We kitted out a group of around 20 willing delegates (plus ourselves) with elastic knee straps (to constrict gait) and masks made of modified sandwich boxes (to emphasise peripheral vision). The group then set off in search of food, indicated by the rustling of paper bags.
Wearing the sandwich-box masks was sweaty, claustrophobic and disorientating. Walking in tiny steps was challenging. We weren't really like pigeons at all - and yet... There was something about disruption to gait and perception that took you out of the human body. We began to follow cues from each other as much as the sound of rustling bags - and became a very convincing little flock of expectant foragers.
Wearing the sandwich-box masks was sweaty, claustrophobic and disorientating. Walking in tiny steps was challenging. We weren't really like pigeons at all - and yet... There was something about disruption to gait and perception that took you out of the human body. We began to follow cues from each other as much as the sound of rustling bags - and became a very convincing little flock of expectant foragers.
The kit was made with a nod to pigeons. For example, the sandwich boxes were chosen as masks because of the signals they give pigeons about food sources. We had hoped to attract some avian role models - or at least spectators - but bad weather meant the activity had to take place indoors. We were also riffing off some half-remembered ideas from Bruno Latour about the need for prostheses to facilitate interspecies communication. (Risky to riff around so many academics, but no one seemed to mind.)
It was an ephemeral, light-touch work, but our thoughts about expectancy and gifting were serious ones. Feral pigeons and humans live closely interconnected lives, but they usually watch us far more closely than we watch them: perhaps because we are potential predators as much as providers.
With thanks to Phil Smith, Claire Hind and Helen Billinghurst, who organised the Walking's New Movements conference, and Exeter Real Food Cafe, who donated the compostable sandwich boxes.
It was an ephemeral, light-touch work, but our thoughts about expectancy and gifting were serious ones. Feral pigeons and humans live closely interconnected lives, but they usually watch us far more closely than we watch them: perhaps because we are potential predators as much as providers.
With thanks to Phil Smith, Claire Hind and Helen Billinghurst, who organised the Walking's New Movements conference, and Exeter Real Food Cafe, who donated the compostable sandwich boxes.
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