Metamorphosis of HOME

Annamária Zemková

Metamorphosis of Home

Previus semester I decided that I want to expand my pigeon sketches to streets. First I started to write poems which worked as a coping mecahnism for my own personal challenges and still adapting to a new environment. Later I morphed these poems into one long poem that I decided to break it into individual verses, where each became a foundation for a separate illustration (poster), that I would place in different towns and villages around Trøndelag. Turning my private reflection into public expression.

Once a symbol of peace and hope, is now haunting streets as an urban ghost.

In this work pigeon becomes my own alter ego, lost in the unlimited freedom with no way out. Forced to surviving and wondering on the edge of human spaces.

Pigeons are a powerful embodiment of freedom combined with abandonment.

In my poem I try to express my own take on the paradox of freedom and what it truly means to be free when from a sense of home. This poem gives me space for confession and critique, while questioning what freedom means without home, identity or stability.

While working on this project I was inspired by

Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, especially in the terms of transformation to express emotional and psychological isolation. Undergoing physical mutations that are symbolizing internal collapse mixed with desperate search for identity.

Through describing the mutation of physical bodies I’m expressing the struggles with existential conflict where we are no longer able to recognize ourselves.

“Can this be my home?”

My plan is to distribute the illustrations gradually throughout the small towns and less populated areas around Trøndelag region. Me and the pigeons are flying symbolically from one place to another until we reach our final destination which is Trondheim, especially the urban center of the city. Still metaphorically searching for our home.

With each new destination there comes also a new depiction of another verse from the poem, which means that in the time we reach Trondheim the poem will be completed.

The meaning it’s gonna gathger itself across distance, connecting places and people through shared artistic depictions.

Wheatpaste is a traditional street art technique that uses a simple adhesive made from flour, water, sugar, cornstarch and a small amount of glue. The thinner the paper it’s easier to affix printed posters onto public surfaces (trashcans, trees, columns, buildings and much more…). Although it’s important to be always respectful to private properties and other public buildings and objects where the posters may cause problems. Wheatpaste technique is delicate, simple and temporary able to withstand bad weather, allowing me to preserve my illustrative style compared to different street art techniques.

As an inspiration for my artistic approach I would like to mention french street artist working under pseudonym called “Invader”, who dicreetly installs simple mosaic “space invaders” in the cities around the world.

Although this semester the core of my project focuses mostly on the psychological side. There is still subtle side that slightly touches wider biopolitical question, especially in how society controls life that can be “out of place”.

Pigeons in modern society are often labeled as “flying pests”, that are often rejected from many urban settings. If it’s taken this way, pigeons in my work are not just emotional metaphors, but they can be also be understood as political bodies, depicting policies about pigeon controls in the cities. Which can also show how regulating specific forms of life can be sometimes even grotesque.

So simultaneously my project can be more about mental metamorphosis using pigeon as a symbol, but at the same time I believe I’m able to give voice even to real pigeons in the streets.

This project is still in a process and during summer months, I plan to continue with my project as I was stating how the project should continue.

Each location becomes a piece of a larger narrative, contributing to evolve a dialogue place and transformation. The project will continue to grow and will remain open even after reaching Trondheim, leaving a space for more artistic strategies for next semester.

Locations so far:

- Orkanger - Støren

- Melhus - Lensvik

- Ler - Vanvikan

- Lundamo - Vormstad

- Fanrem

Links:

- https://www.harbourcity.com.hk/en/article/welcome-the-art-invasion/

- https://crimethinc.com/2017/07/18/a-field-guide-to-wheatpasting-everything-you-need-to-know-to-blanket-the-world-in-posters

Literature:

SONG,Hoon. Pigeon Trouble. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvanioa Press, 2010.
ISBN: 978-0-8122-4242-3

ROACH, Mary. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law. W.W. Norton & Company, 2021.