Jan Dibbets, Robin redbreast’d Territory/ Sculpture 1969, 2014

Robin Redbreast’s Territory is a book documenting a 1969 installation in an Amsterdam park by Jan Dibbets, who observed and highlighted the movements of a robin through a series of photographs. The book, published in 1970, is Dibbets’ only Artist’s book. After learning about the habits of robins, Jan Dibbets decided to extend the territory of one robin, setting new boundaries with poles that the bird would perch on; in this way, the robin participated in the artist’s ‘Drawing in Space’. The book’s left-hand pages feature photographs and topographical surveys, alongside handwritten notes by the artist, which are rendered in three other languages (English, French and German) on the right-hand pages.