Marielle Videler - 365 BIRDS

Mariëlle found inspiration to choose birds for this long series in the works of Jan Velten. He drew the animals he observed around 1700 in the courtyard of Jan Blauw's inn in Amsterdam. The exotic animal collection, also referred to as the bird house, was a major attraction in the city. The animals had been shipped to the Netherlands by VOC traveling salesmen. In the birdhouse, for example, Velten saw a majestic king vulture for the first time. His drawings stand in stark contrast to the enormous abundance of available online images of exotic animals nowadays.
We can also view wild animals in zoos all over the world whenever we want, but these animals are often the last living specimens of their kind. For example, the Hawaiian crow Kinohi that lives in captivity in San Diego, born in a breeding program. He was raised by his caretakers who fed him with crow-shaped hand puppets. Elizabeth Kolbert writes about him in her book: “He lives in his own world… He once fell in love with a spoonbill.” In response to the contrast between these two worlds, Mariëlle Videler came up with the idea to connect herself with a bird every day for a year and make a drawing.

The installations 365 BIRDS and Bird Club were on view at Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam and Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia.


	work / about / news / text / contact	365 BIRDS 2019 - 2020 project and installation 365 drawings, 365 cartons, 365 twigs size each drawing: H 30,5 x W 23 cm, length each twig 10 to 17 cm Dimension installation: around 80 m2 From the first of January 2019, throughout the whole year (which is one third of a sparrow’s life), Mariëlle Videler made a drawing of a bird every day. Not by looking at a bird, or by thinking of a bird, by drawing she slowly senses the bird. The drawings are made with very fine pencil. The birds appeared on paper; his beak takes shape, the legs, nails, eyes; she discovered its physical appearance. The plumage is composed of different patterns, referring to classic textile patterns as well as contemporary structures and patterns developed she created while drawing. In her studio, she transformed energy; intuition and embodied awarness into a bird. Each body has 'eyes', sensors everywhere.





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