gaggle no. 1
gaggle
noun
1 : a flock of geese when not in flight
2: a group, aggregation, or cluster lacking organization
3: an indefinite number
In Massachusetts there are 2 populations of geese. One is migratory while the other is a resident population: descendants of captive geese once used as live decoys by hunters and released into the environment when the use of live decoys was banned in 1935. Human infiltration through captivity and breeding left these geese and their descendants without patterns of migration, resulting in yearlong nesting throughout the state. gaggle no. 1 was an endurance-based performance that asked what happens when a space designated for passing through becomes marked as home. Created in conversation with Fujiko Nakaya’s fog sculpture, Fog x Canopy, gaggle no. 1 was inspired by everyday collisions between human and goose activity that occur along the Clemente Field path. Actions that made up the performance were sourced from human and goose gathering behaviors and patterns observed in the site. gaggle no. 1 challenged notions of immersion, mimicry, inclusion and co-existence by offering a non-anthropomorphic point of view in a place built for human passing and recreation.
photos by Daniel S. DeLuca