October 31, 2009


Dear birdwatcher friends,

recently the birds landed twice in the lab town of Los Alamos, NM, birthplace of the atomic bomb and currently home to much high tech weapons development.  The flock also visited nearby Bandelier, the ancient site of Anasazi cliff dwellings.  Documentary film makers Thomas Meffert and Dagmar Diebels were here from Germany;  they have begun to make a documentary about the project, filming on site and also in the studio, with plans to continue through next summer.  
Eight pictures follow.

The flock is growing, and the content which the birds carry on their backs continues to develop.  I'm making more silkscreens from all kinds of new material -- some of which is related to future landing sites.  One of these is scheduled for next July in Peenemünde, Germany up on the Baltic Sea.  Peenemünde is where the Germans were developing the V-1 and V-2 rockets during World War II, and my grandfather was one of the scientists working there.  My father, who remembers the bombing of his house and town when he was seven years old, has sent me some writing about it and some old photographs from 1943, which are making their way into silkscreens.  There is a historical and technical Museum in Peenemünde now, which has also done some work as a center for peace;  the birds are invited to land there July 12th & 13th,  the film crew will be there, and maybe also my parents; my father has not been back since one hour after his house was bombed.


Wishing each of you well,
christy