The LAURA birdhouse by Jason Sargenti, 2020

About the Item

Handmade architectural birdhouse by Jason Sargenti, hand-signed dated, USA 2020. "Inspired by the sophisticated lady PI in charge of Remington Steele Agency." J Sargenti Made with a birdhouse and a large Wesselman-esque geometric relief. 9” x 5-3/4” x 6” The birdhouse facade is a sphere with a large, Wesselman-esque, geometric relief of three wide overlapping stripes painted in beige, grey and burgundy brown. Unlike other birdhouses in this exhibition, the Laura features two bird-doors, suggesting a type of cohabitation, or implying a high traffic home with an entry and exit door. Part of the exhibition "The Architect's Birdhouses" by Jason Sargenti at PHX Gallery, Aug 31 to Sept 13 2023. "The motivation for making these birdhouses came from a desire to provide some contrast in my surroundings. Initially, I would purchase ugly birdhouses and renovate them. My plan included distributing them to open fields around my rural Upstate NY community, to provide homes for songbirds. Eventually those were all either stolen or used as target practice by the locales. The proceeding iterations, made during quarantine, were less for distribution to a hostile community and more to maintain my own sanity. The resulting constructions are fantasies, speculations and inspiration that continue a discourse in speculative design." J Sargenti Jason Sargenti is a New York State-licensed architect with a body of built work in the private and public sectors, an experienced university educator, and an expert generalist with a skills base in project management, building technology, historic masonry restoration, site planning, and sustainable design. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a Master of Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. "My formative years were split between New York City and Florida in the 1980s and '90s. On weekends during the school year, my mother would drag me around South Florida, documenting the beach homes of money launderers and narcotics importers for a popular design magazine. During the summer, I would follow my cooler older brother around SoHo as he delivered "fashion" to celebrity photo shoots. Like many who create things, I attended design school, where I was told my colorful creations were unrelatable and just plain terrible. My faculty was unwilling or unable to provide context for what interested me. It was only in the last several years that I began to piece together the historical context that exerted so much influence over me (that which people label generically as the '80s). My perspective is less a longing for the return to the age of decadence and more a feeling that there is fertile ground to mine for ideation." J Sargenti

Dimensions:

Height: 6 in (15.24 cm)Width: 6 in (15.24 cm)Depth: 5.75 in (14.61 cm)

Style:

Post-Modern (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Wood,Hand-Painted

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

2010-

Date of Manufacture:

2020