The Ornitarium. Denmark, Western Australia. 2011
M12 developed the Ornitarium project as part of IASKA’s International site-based Biennial, Spaced: Art Out of Place. The first in a series of ornithologically-based work, the Ornitarium is an architectural sculpture that is sited at the Wetlands Education Centre—operated by Green Skills—just outside of the Shire of Denmark, WA.
This project has been inspired by “local knowledge” found in Southwestern Australia – specifically knowledge related to birds that populate the regions wetlands areas, regional timber types, and building methods. The work is designed and built as a bird hide and as a social space. The Ornitarium has a large front wall that stands as the dividing line between human habitat and wetland habitat, and a platform that invites visitors to spend time around the structure; encouraging learning and providing a catalyst for developing a deeper connection to the local environment and community.
The structure explores duality, and binds built space with environment—the inside expresses notions of the private, contemplative, communal, and reflective, and the outside wall stands to camouflage human engagement and reinforce fragmentation, and instinctive habitats such as nests and forests.
A number of functions are immediately available at the Ornitarium - a space for looking at and studying birds, a gathering place during a bushwalk, a place to spend the night if one wishes, a quiet spot for contemplation or a quick nap. The Denmark community may add or take away from the structure. Visitors are invited to leave writings, drawings, or checklists of birds that they have seen at the site in the project archive. Our hope it is that the structure may help to magnetize the Wetlands Education Centre and inspire more visits, which could in turn help the many missions of the Centre. For more information on this project please visit http://www.iaska.com.au/content/project/Denmark%3A+The+M12+Collective/39/
