From my first sighting of Outlandia I was struck by its resemblance to a bird-box—only at human scale—perched high in a remote forest canopy. Hence, my proposal was to build a nest in this curious structure, the interior of which is physically and visually inaccessible for those without a key. For its privileged inhabitants there is a window, offering spectacular views of Ben Nevis. However, it is impossible to ‘look in’ because of an un-scalable drop to the ground below—so steep is the hillside on which the structure stands. When opened, the window resembles the large aperture of a box made for monster-sized robins and birds that dislike the restrictions of nest-boxes with small circular access holes. The high ceiling, topped by a skylight, allows freedom of movement, access and action that goes beyond human scale and habitation. Standing sentinel-like on an engineered pillar of a coniferous trunk—a giant version of suburban bird boxes, perched atop tall garden posts and safe from the reach of murderous domestic cats—Outlandia prompts questions derived from imaginings. What monstrous bird might live here? And what terrible predators might it keep out?  

This opportunity had the potential to yield far more than the material act of making a human-sized nest. In realising The Human Nest-box I was able creatively to extend and ‘transport’ my project Cuculus Prospectus to a location related to conventions of ‘land art and ‘non-sites’. Two works from this earlier project specifically served as resources to shape and define the research process for site-based actions and interventions undertaken during both residencies at Outlandia in 2013 and 2014. Cuculus Prospectus: Nesting Materials Archive (2011) provided reference data on New World nesting materials (invaluable to a ‘non-nesting’ human/cuckoo). Existing New World Servants (2011) provided information on geographical distribution of North American territories of the 14 host species, common to both ‘Old’ and ‘New World’. Both visits to Outlandia involved improvised attempts to build a nest from a list of 30 materials used by these species. This action provided an opportunity to immerse myself, as a creature with no experience of nest building, in a process alien to both humans and cuckoos. In this respect, the privacy afforded by the remote location of Outlandia enabled me to explore new and imagined inter-species survival strategies. Generic Highland Hybrid Host I and II were entirely made from materials found at or near to the site of the tree-house. I carefully selected fallen branches, twigs and other materials re-distributing these across the area at the end of each residency so as to minimise disturbance to the natural ecology of the forest. The nests were constructed in an improvised manner in response to both environment and interior architectural limitations/possibilities of space. Construction methods were similar to those used by many birds, but took place on a much larger scale.

As the nests grew, the strength and engineering of their structure became apparent. When completed, both nests were capable of holding human occupants with ease. The 2014 nest eventually became much larger, assuming an ‘inhabitable’ space closer to the interior architecture of the hut, and more accurately resembling the nest of a bird-box dweller. Samples of materials used were documented, catalogued and cross-referenced against known European and potential North American cuckoo hosts according to archival processes used in Cuculus Prospectus. This process revealed that the Outlandia nests share materials from these real and potential hosts, but are in reality hybrid nests formed from materials used by many bird species.

In 2015 I constructed a third nest inside a full scale reconstruction of Outlandia (complete with small board walk, but minus its roof void space) which was butted up against the large glass windows of Tent Gallery, Edinburgh as pert of the 2015 Edinburgh Art Festival . This had the effect of providing a cross section of the hut's space, completely visible from the street outside. Before the nest construction took place, the materials for the nest were collected and laid out according to type occupying much of the gallery space for the first fortnight of the exhibition. The third nest, East Lothian Hybrid (2015) closely resembled the first, however, there were major differences, brought about by geographic, material and environmental factors. Firstly, the biggest challenge was that the largest timbers and branches for the framework, on which all finer materials would sit, were somewhat shorter than in the previous nests. Because of restrictions of ceiling height in the gallery (at no more than 3m) it would have been impossible to use branches of the length used in Glen Nevis. The gallery, too, occupies an urban city centre location, far from an abundance of necessary materials making transportation essential.  As in avian adaptation, I 'engineered' the main framework using greater quantities of timbers than previously used to create a structure that exploited a combination of natural material properties and gravity to hold together. Before long the nest could comfortably hold my weight and finer materials added. Adapting the construction meant that the base of this nest was 50-70cm further from the ground than its two predecessors. The remaining construction was similar, although materials sourced from East Lothian differed significantly from those in the West Highlands. Twigs and branches, came from many more deciduous sources, grasses were longer and more abundant, ferns were longer and greener and mosses were more compact. This meant that the lining of the nest was much less stable to movement and, overall, drier.

A fourth nest The Wytham Hybrid was constructed in 2017 just outside Oxford as part of the European Researcher’s Night 2017 (Curiosity Carnival). This nest was sited in a purpose built structure in a small clearing within Wytham Woods, which are owned and maintained by the University of Oxford. They are one of the most researched woodlands in the world and are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.