Murmuration, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 2020

Atlanta’s singular cityscape is celebrated for its abundance of trees. Murmuration, a temporary installation for the High Museum of Art, responds directly to the architecture of its Renzo Piano-designed Piazza. Using the lens of bird migrations, it reacts to Atlanta’s relationship with the natural world.

As they cross the Piazza, guests are enveloped by a foliage-filled mesh canopy suspended from a steel framework, evocative of the tree canopies found throughout the region. We worked with Atlanta-based engineers Uzun & Case to develop a constellation of metal frames suspended from six poles and wrapped in agricultural netting, which gives the installation its shape. The sculptural arrangement echoes the form of a bird murmuration, a flock of birds, momentarily suspended in midair. The canopy is strewn with ample birdfeeders, seating perches, and other playful elements to encourage interaction, observation, and awareness. The experience is designed to spur conversations around biodiversity, extinction, and cohabitation.

The city’s canopy provides shade, cleans the air, and helps reduce stormwater runoff. Creating a sustainable future for Atlanta includes maintaining or increasing the number of trees. In its title and concept, Murmuration also directly advocates for conservation efforts toward birds, questioning their loss and the terms for our future environment.

The structure was fabricated and fully erected in Mexico before being shipped to Atlanta. As such the installation can be deinstalled and reinstalled in future locations and create its own migratory path.

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