GOALS
Janine Benyus, scientist and author, opens her book Biomimicry with a definition: nature as a mentor. She writes: "Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but on what we can learn from it." (Benyus, Biomimicry)
We found this definition to be appealing as we reflected on what exactly was inspiring about the sociable weaver bird nest structure as a model for curatorial practice. While most biomimetry involves designing tangible objects, such as trains modeled after bird beaks, our interest is to bring biomimetry to how we shape social engagement. Since curatorial practices are at their heart about building common spaces for communication, we wondered what sorts of pitfalls and bad habits in curation could be sidestepped by looking to the more-than-human—that is, to animal practices—to learn new approaches for fostering sites of social exchange. We looked to the highly cooperate bird the sociable weaver and their incredible communal nests for insight into forging different models of spaces of cultural exchange.
Our goal with this project is to explore the biological and evolutionary facets of the sociable weaver’s communal nest structure and then take this scientific knowledge and insert it into a context it is not usually found: in arts administration. We believe that crossing these territories has a value in reinvigorating the field of social practices with new complications, questions, and perspectives afforded by this unorthodox combination.
MAJOR SCIENTIFIC AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT
THE NEST IS COMMUNAL
Weavers are a highly cooperative species of birds that live Kalahari Desert region in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia ("Birds | Sociable Weavers." ). They build communal nests on tall smooth tree trunks or telephone poles to discourage predators like snakes, honey badgers, and pygmy falcons("Sociable Weaver Research Project."). The honeycombing of nesting chambers function like a city block: up to 100 families live in the same nest, and one nest is weaved for the entire colony and for future residents. In fact, some nests have been occupied for over 100 years ("Birds | Sociable Weavers.")! An intriguing aspect is that the nest is constantly morphing in order to evolve with the needs of the community of birds, with sections being constantly destroyed and rebuilt ("Sociable Weaver Research Project."). It is important to note that the nest building in the birds is an instinctual skill, not a learned behavior ("Sociable Weaver Research Project.").
THE NEST IS SHARED WITH OTHER SPECIES, TOO
Other species of birds nest side-by-side with the weavers, including the predator bird the pygmy falcon (pictured below), who relies completely on the social weavers nest. What a strange interaction - a sometimes predator is invited into the nest. Though it is still in debate, many scientists agree that this inter-species co-habitation enables all of the species to learn from one another where to find food sources (Crook, Collias). So instead of being an isolated utopia, it’s engaging in the complex social interactions of the ecology at large. Larger birds like owls, vultures, and eagles often roost on the roof of the nest, and this living together enables the birds to more easily keep watch for predators, stay warm and cool in the harsh Kalahari Desert climate (Askins, Collias, Crook).
THE NEST IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING AND COMMUNICATIVE
To maintain the nest, the birds must be in constant communication, and their chit-chat is audible even several yards away ("Sociable Weaver Research Project."). The group effort of the birds extends to the family structure: older siblings, acting as helpers, provide food for the chicks and parent birds often provide food for neighboring babies ("Sociable Weaver Research Project."). As technology evolved so did the weavers: to avoid becoming snake food the birds soon realized the slick branchless telephone pole was the perfect strategy to stay out of harms way.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHODS USED BY WEAVER RESEARCHERS
John Crook, pictured above, was an ethologist that devoted a large amount of observatory research to the study of weaver birds through the 1960s and 70s. Nicholas and Elsie Collias extended the observational work with experiments to discover the biological and evolutionary factors that led to the communal nest, finding that the nest had major temperature regulatory benefits which led to the sexual selection of genes with birds with highly skilled innate nest building abilities (See experimental details of evolutionary factors identified by Crook and Nicholas and Elsie Collias outlined in annotated bibliography).
OUR BIOMIMETIC CURATORIAL MANIFESTO
· Weave as a theoretical model
o There is an inherent value in interdisciplinary and interspecies communication. We are looking at the spaces between art and science, as well as thinking of weaving communities and their members in their interactions.
· Constant generative hum
o While looking at examples of contemporary cultural centers, often the events happen in a cycle of downtime with a spike of activity. While looking at the constant energy flow of the nest model, we would encourage the idea of finding alternative modes of engagement that can encourage a constant energy stream. This doesn’t have to be daily openings, but perhaps programming, tours, libraries: if the energy is constant it will be more successful.
· Reciprocity, not dogma
o By this we mean that we are interested providing resources to community members who can use their own agency to create the programs that they and their communities need, instead of a colonial mindset of discovery and cultural domination.
· Sustainable and recycled inhabitance
o This is a way to address the cultural clustering that happens in a city. Using vacant or blighted spaces enables energy and activity in neglected communities.
· Inclusivity as a principle
o Instead of just anti-exclusivity, this is about embracing inclusivity as a guiding force to allow and organize so that every voice is heard.
· Negotiating threat
o This is one of the most valuable lessons to be learned: how to identify and negotiate threats. This idea allows us to view these systems without overly romantic ideas of utopia. The birds have shown us that some threats can be allowed into communities (such as the pygmy falcon, where the mutual benefit enables cooperation for the sake of the whole) and some threats can and should be adverted (the snakes, who offer nothing in return for the risk they pose).
EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS BY OTHERS
The first project that we'd like to share is the collective Mammalian Diving Reflex, which was founded in 1993. Using a multitude of forms, they focus on creating what they call “social acupuncture”: playful, provocative, site and social-specific participatory performances with non-actors of all ages and demographics, designed to bring people together in new and unusual ways ( Haircuts by Children @ LIFT 2010). While we could have highlighted any of their many projects, the one that stole our hearts was a project from 2004 in London, produced in conjuncture with the LIFT festival. Haircuts By Children involves children between the ages of 8-12 who are trained by professional hairstylists, and then paid to run a real hair salon, offering members of the public free haircuts. The project invites the consideration of young people as creative and competent individuals whose aesthetic choices can be trusted (Mamallian Diving Reflex).
So how is this project similar to the sociable weaver nests? First, it utilizes the constant generative hum: that form of constant community engagement that happens within a salon as a site of cultural sharing. The project foregrounds the salon as a site of social connection, because the hair salon has traditionally functioned in communities as a space of continual energy and social interaction. The project extends this idea further with the agency given to children. It is therefore a strong example of reciprocity and not dogma. As a completely child-run and child-paid space, the traditional power structure is shifted and the children are shown to be imaginative community members with creative abilities. The project also offers sustainable and recycled inhabitance: this didn’t happen in a museum or cultural center but rather in a vacant neighborhood building. Importantly, it also negotiates threat and challenges the pervasive notion of stranger danger. This project has allowed for a space where adults who are strangers are able to interact and share with children, and bring the social division between the two.
(Here is someone who just got their hair dyed blue with a nice shaved racing stripe down the side.)
NEXT STEPS: THE FUTURE OF THE PROJECT
Pullman is a neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago. It has just become a national monument and is a must-see if you are involved or interested in either social and labor movements or architecture.
This upcoming summer of 2015 we will be transforming a series of abandoned buildings on ll5th and Cottage Grove into pop-up art events. We'll be hosting shows with local artists neighbors, airbrushes, and musicians. The funding that we generate from these events will being going to Pullman Tech, which is a school that will be free to residents to teach carpentry and other skills, so that the upkeep of this Historic Neighborhood can be a job creator in a neighborhood with little resources.
NOTES ON OUR PRESENTATION METHODS
To present this project at the Biosemiotics forum at Sector 2337, we outlined the goals, scientific basis, and the manifesto we crafted on this project along with how the biomimetic curatorial manifesto we crafted extends to the Pullman project, opening up the floor for exchange and questions.
To experiment with the communal nest design as a pedagogical structure of connection and exchange in the classroom, we constructed a zine that aggregates each project from the class into a visual diagram. Each class member will receive a set of crayons color-coded with a thematic and conceptual link, such as narrative or exchange. Class members will be encouraged to use the conceptual linking words as a reflection tool during the presentation forum, literally drawing connections between the various topics. The goal is to activate the overlapping space between the topics presented. At the end of the day, we will display the modified and drawn up zines together on the wall, modeling the weaver nest structure in order to visualize the shared and diverging reflections the class members made as a whole.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Askins, Robert A. "Bird Territories: A Key to Understanding Bird Behavior." Biology Faculty Publications of Connecticut College (1987): n. pag. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=biofacpub>.
Askins outlines how amateur observation by birdwatches revolutionized the field of ornithology due to their unique perspective to catalog territories of birds. Specific attention is given to the sociable weaver as a species that has a defined territory that is both defensive and cooperative due to the tight knit community of their nests and the guarding from predators.
Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. New York: Morrow, 1997. Print.
Benyus provides a plethora of models for rethinking human action and design in a way that minimizes harm and values the biological and evolutionary principles that have enabled various species to thrive for long time spans.
"Birds | Sociable Weavers." Sociable Weavers. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/sociable-weavers>.
The San Diego Zoo houses the only weaver nest outside of the Kalahari Desert, and this site gives great cursory introduction to the species.
Collias, N. E., J. K. Victoria, and R. J. Shallenberger. "Social Facilitation in Weaverbirds: Importance of Colony Size." Ecology 52.5 (1971): 823.
Collias shows that through experiments in varying colony size, nests of sociable weavers change size in proportion, and he therefore defines colony size as a theory in how the communal nest came about for thermogenic protection.
Collias, N. E. "Review: The Evolution of Social Organization and Visual Communication in the Weaver Birds (Ploceinae)." Bird-Banding 36.2 (1965): 128-30. JSTOR. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Collias reviews Crooks seminal book on weavers as a high quality observation of their colony structure.
Collias, Nicholas E. "The Evolution Of Nests And Nest-Building In Birds." Integrative and Comparative Biology 4.2 (1964): 175-90.
Collias identifies thermogenic protection, helpers that assist parents in feeding, and food source locations as factors that lead to the evolution of the compound nest.
Collias, Nicholas E. "Weaverbird Nest Aggregation and Evolution of the Compound Nest." The Auk 94.1 (1977): 50-64. JSTOR. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Collias outlines experiments in colony size alteration as means of testing theories of the evolution of compound nests in weavers.
Crook, John Hurrel. "The Evolution of Social Organisation and Visual Communication in the Weaver Birds (Ploceinae)." Behaviour. Supplement No. 10.The Evolution of Social Organisation and Visual Communication in the Weaver Birds (Ploceine) (1964): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
An in-depth compendium of Crook’s work on weavers from the field.
Haircuts by Children @ LIFT 2010. Dir. Mammalin Diving Reflex. Youtube. N.p., 16 July 2010. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jytPp_fx02o>.
Video documentation of the Haircuts by Children project.
Mamallian Diving Reflex. "Projects | Mammalian." Mammalian. Mammalian Diving Reflex, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://mammalian.ca/projects/#haircuts-by-children>.
The artist group provides a theoretical explanation and documentation of their Haircuts by Children project, outlining its social engagement of communities and agency granted to children as major influences.
"The Pullman Strike & Eugene Debs, from The Stan Iverson Memorial Library & Anarchist Archives." The Pullman Strike & Eugene Debs, from The Stan Iverson Memorial Library & Anarchist Archives. The Stan Iverson Memorial Library & Anarchist Archives, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://recollectionbooks.com/siml/library/PullmanStrike.htm>.
An introduction to the history of labor issues in the Chicago neighborhood Pullman.
"The Pullman Strike." The Pullman Strike. Northern Illinois University, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy941208.html>.
A useful timeline of the changes in the Pullman neighborhood and its relation to fabricated communities.
Rodgers, Diane M. Debugging the Link between Social Theory and Social Insects. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008. Print.
A useful analysis of discursive interchange between social theorists, such as anarchist Kropotkin, and entomologists. Provides historical analysis of rhetorical interchange between the two disciplines, showing how interest in animal models of the social began with the study of ants and bees.
"Sociable Weaver Research Project." Sociable Weaver Research Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/docs/sociable_weaver.html>.
Steeds, Lucy. Exhibition. Cambridge: MIT, 2014. Print.
Lucy Steeds provides an excellent aggregation of ideas, concerns, and questions regarding contemporary exhibition practices in the form of excerpts from a careful selection of writings in the field. The idea of curation emerges as one of high tensions and crisscrossing networks of relation inquiry. The book was useful for framing the idea of social engagement in arts administration field, finding a specific footing that does not fall to bad habits but reimagines the space anew.
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