yorick
BIRDHOUSE
3D printed oversize cat skull, ABS filament, resin, pigments, 21 x 17 x 31 cm
The title of the bird feeder in the oversized cat skull refers to the scene from Shakespeare's "Hamlet", in which the prince holds Yorick's head in his hand. Often this is wrongly associated with the monologue "To be, or not to be, that is the question" from Act 3, Scene 1. Actually Hamlet takes the skull in Act 5, Scene 1 and says:
"Let me see. (he takes the skull) Oh, poor Yorick! I used to know him, Horatio — a very funny guy, and with an excellent imagination. (...)"
YORICK was realized for the Zurich exhibition space HAMLET, which opened in November 2018. The premises, located on the 5th floor, surround a spacious terrace. Yet the railing of this terrace is below the prescribed minimum height, it must not be entered. To make the space usable and as a gesture for the birds native to Zurich, artists were asked to build a functional birdhouse for the roof terrace.
Photo: Francesca Ferrari & Yoichi Iwamoto.
Special thanks to Kevin Aeschbacher.
drone video documentation, house warming HAMLET.