A Campus for Wild Bees
Window decoration and bird protection for the Multispecies Campus at the Freie Universität Berlin.
For the Year of Biodiversity at Freie Universität Berlin, I collaborated with the German Wildlife Foundation to create an artwork for the window fronts of Mensa II that showcases five species of wild bees that can be found in Berlin.
The mural not only shows the bees, but also their favorite food plants and unique nesting places.
I painted the mural directly onto the windows of Mensa II using colorful acrylic markers.
The colors are resistant to rain and light, but can be removed with water and detergent if necessary.
The mural completely surrounds the corner of Mensa II. The choice of this placement is strategic. Large window fronts, especially those with several transparent glass panes, pose a risk of bird strike. Due to the double reflection, the birds cannot see that it is an obstacle and fly against the pane.
As the mural completely covers the corner of the window on both sides with a narrow line technique, it is not only a work of art that catches the light differently depending on the time of day, but also an effective bird screen.
The quality of a visit to the canteen is not detracted by darkened windows, because the artwork is also effective from the inside.
A work of art as decorative bird protection that draws attention to the importance of wild bees for our ecosystems, beautifies the campus and sets an example for biodiversity.
