Video, 2024


Chickens are highly social and have a clearly defined hierarchy within the flock, where the dominant hen takes control, and the others follow, often with little resistance. When frightened, chickens typically raise their necks, direct their gaze toward the danger, and may begin running in all directions in panic. Their behavior often includes clucking, pecking, and even fighting among themselves, especially when they feel threatened or when food appears. Chickens follow a very distinct daily rhythm, based on feeding, resting, and foraging. In the morning, they are most active, searching for food and inspecting their surroundings, while in the afternoon, they are usually calmer, gathered in one spot. If they detect danger, chickens can immediately go into a panic, running in different directions, which can cause even more confusion in the flock. In this sense, their behaviors often speak to both oppressive and autonomous instincts, where the daily struggle for survival is grounded in reactions conditioned by hierarchical organization and fear.

In this work, the sky becomes a mantra of freedom, but a freedom that is simultaneously confronted with the brutality of survival. Viewed from below, what we see is not just the search for freedom but also the inevitable confrontations with power systems that shape our fate. The perspective of the bird, observing the butcher, reveals the deep connection between the victim and the one who carries out the violence. This video work does not only depict the struggle for survival but also the mechanisms that enable and sustain that struggle—a struggle that is, in fact, deeply rooted in everyday power structures. Through my work, I often employ fable strategies, as they allow for the exploration of social flows through allegories we recognize, yet which are simultaneously distanced from our everyday reality. Birds, as a symbol, are not only victims but also carriers of identity—often in the form of oppressive instincts, fears, and mechanisms of self-defense. Through this dynamic, the work raises the question: what does it mean to be free in a world where everyone is in some kind of prison, whether physical, social, political, or emotional? This is a multi-layered approach where the daily struggle for survival becomes a platform for understanding the structures that shape our existence, until we reach the moment when the bird, like every individual, faces its own inevitable fate.