Specimen Colony
Specimen Colony by Alec Finlay is a contemplation on migration, dwelling and the hybrid nature of contemporary cities. It centres on 34 brightly painted nest boxes presented in the gallery and outdoors in the trees of the Bluecoat garden, their designs based on illustrations of birds found on postage stamps.
Opened out, the nest box form suggests the figure of a bird in flight. These colourful and abstract flat schematics are exhibited alongside the nest boxes in the gallery, together with drawings where Finlay has carefully inked in bird shapes on stamps. A specially produced publication by Liverpool University Press contains other ideas related to Specimen Colony, including poems, collages, drawings, photographs and even a DIY cut-out version of the nest box form.
You can also download cut-out versions of the nest boxes here. Pick your favourite bird or print off a blank nest box and design your own:
NB00 Blank Nest-Box schema for your own design
NB03 Plate-Billed Mountain Toucan
NB12 Lazuli Bunting (Lazuli Finch)
