'For the Birds' Light Box

Project Objective: Research and trace a word or phrase from its original use today, emphasis on American slang. Based on research, create a light box as a foundation and incorporate alternative papers as well as linoleum block printing.

This project was based on the phrase “that’s for the birds”. We know this phrase to mean “insignificant and unimportant”. Originally it was US Army slang that originated towards the end of WWII. “That’s for the birds” is a shortened form of the vulgar version “that’s sh** for the birds”, derived from the habit of some birds of pecking at horse droppings in order to find seeds.
My intention was to portray this with images of birds making themselves at home among places of decay. The images of deterioration are splattered with wood stain and embellished with linocut prints. Within the box, silhouettes of birds fly in a circle around a spin lamp base.