Socks and Flappers (Fitzroy Allotments)
Interspecies engagement with invasive ring-neck parakeets. Screenprint on TYVEK, UV paint, garden stakes. Exhibited as part of 'Closer to the Veg' curated by Sasha Galitzine, Fitzroy Allotments, 2016
These faux-parakeets are intended to mimic the movement and appearance of real parakeets feeding and in flight. Their design is based on practical advice I gathered from watching Youtube video tutorials shared by hunters who make their own ‘windsock’ and ‘flapper’ decoys for luring in waterfowl, and by reading up on parakeet behaviour and perception. For instance Indian ringneck parakeets are very sensitive to and attracted by the UV end of the visual spectrum, hence the small flashes of fluorescent pink around the male parakeets’ neck. These parakeet ‘socks’ and ‘flappers’ were introduced into Fitzroy allotments in London as a form of action-research, to see how an existing but rather shy population of urban parakeets, and a (generally) dedicated and plot-proud population of human allotment-holders would react to the presence of a new flock of ‘outsider’ birds.