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Rainbow-Dyed Pigeons Become Flying Works of Art

Julius von Bismarck and Julian Charrière airbrushed some birds for the Venice Biennale.

For decades, city dwellers have been complaining about pigeons, ranting about their unrefined plumage and their clumsy stature. But to our knowledge, no one has ever proposed a solution to brighten up these birds—because, really, who has the time or wants an excuse to piss off PETA. But Creator, and former CERN resident, Julius von Bismarck—known for his daring science experiments—has designed a device to color the feathers of pigeons residing in Copenhagen and Venice.

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On this project, entitled Some Pigeons Are More Equal Than Others, in reference to George Orwell’s allegorical novella, von Bismarck collaborated with the Swiss photographer Julian Charrière. The artists developed a “pigeon-apparatus” for the Venice Biennale, that they set up on a city rooftop. When the birds flew into it, they were trapped and airbrushed various colors before being released all over the city. They insisted that the paint was non-toxic and that no animals were harmed in the process, adding that they wanted to give their own identity to each bird—and we’re more than willing to believe them.

View the whole photo series on von Bismarck’s website, and learn more about his disruptive artwork in our behind-the-scenes documentary below.

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