©2024 Alyssa Merlini

PUB003 → No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached (2025)

In this collective research, Bonita Buurman and I explored the lives of urban pigeons and the phenomenon of string foot, combining documentation, literary realism, and critical inquiry through an installation, photo reportage and archive supporting our discoveries.

After our research on urban pigeons, I volunteered for a week at Vogelklas Karel Schot in Rotterdam to experience bird care firsthand.
Working with birds of different sizes taught me patience and sensitivity, and helped me see how care and observation can guide my design practice.

Acknowledgements
With heartfelt thanks to Aash Sital, whose care and dedication to pigeons deeply moved and inspired us.
Thank you for showing us how to catch an destring with gentleness, and for reminding us of the responsibilities that come wit observation.

Design Fables, Willem de Kooning Academie, 2025.
Printed in Rotterdam, June 2025.
Concept development
Alyssa Merlini, Bonita Buurman
Research and writing
Alyssa Merlini, Bonita Buurman
Photography and Graphic design
Alyssa Merlini
Archival Photography
Bonita Buurman

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