GROUP ARTIST STATEMENT: As a group, we individually contributed to different aspects of building, working around, and prospering through but came together to create one final product. We wanted to create a simple representation of a common thing that had a deeper meaning. Our piece brings a man-made, chemically infused birdbox and a bird nest of natural materials to show how human interference with birds, no matter how well-intended, only gets in the way of birds living in their natural way. 

It’s called Help or Hurt and includes a bird nest made of natural materials Gavin collected on a hike and put together with glue, on top of a popularly purchased, Amazon bought birdhouse made out of pressure-treated cedarwood. During our research about birdhouses, we found that pressure/chemically treated cedar wood can be extremely toxic to birds if used as the material for a birdhouse. Since the chemical fumes stay enclosed in the birdhouse, the inside environment where the birds reside becomes extremely dangerous. 

We decided to put a natural bird nest on top of the toxic birdhouse to show that even when humans may think they are helping, they could be harming nature. We connected this back to the interview with our PhD student Valerie Brewer in which we discussed the challenges that birds face when humans become more involved in their natural environment. The birdhouse represents that well-intended human interference that the birds, represented by the natural nest on top, have to navigate around to survive.