School of Zero Bread: The Bird Department

The «Zero Harm School: Bird Department» project focuses on the voice of the internalized (from the Latin intermis — internal) supervisor, which broadcasts external rules into our minds, compelling us to restrict our individuality.

Imaginary School of Zero Harm—a space of infinite instruction where rules become entangled and lose meaning, exposing the process of adopting external regulations as part of the self. The installation is an instruction in three dimensions. The viewer moves through stages of self-regulation, where controlling gestures are directed inward. During the process of self-monitoring, discipline becomes both the goal and the means, so the installation has no logical conclusion.

By referencing images and idioms related to birds, I reflect on how, on one hand, people confine themselves within rigid boundaries, and on the other, how self-discipline procedures dehumanize us. Mimicking the verbose and cliché language of self-help and instruction industries, I construct a proliferation of rules. By pushing these regulations to absurdity, I point out their meaninglessness. By weaving all these techniques within the metaphor of a school, I emphasize the imposed nature of self-control practices.

The installation functions as an instruction in three dimensions. Viewers are invited to go through stages of self-regulation, directing gestures of control toward themselves. Since discipline is simultaneously both the goal and the means to achieve it, the process of self-monitoring cannot be completed. The only way to end the instruction is to exert a willful effort and stop.

A graphic series referencing quotes that proponents of self-control place against the backdrop of an image designed to aestheticize disciplined practices.

Through the peephole, you can watch the video instruction—a positioning training for observation processes. Markings on the wall regulate the position for viewing the instructions.