A Mammoth Undertaking,

a wall of birds,

 the mural commission at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology was timed with the centennial of its founding in 1915, “The Cornell Lab has embraced the intimate relationship between art and ornithology throughout its hundred year history,” writes John W. Fitzpatrick, director of Cornell Lab, in the book’s foreword, which is the feature of The Wall of Birds by Jane Kim and Thayer Walker is out now from Harper Design,

 back to the mural, artist Jane Kim painted a 2,500 square-foot Wall of Birds,

 the mural chronicles 375 million years of bird evolution,

 although each living bird is in vibrant color, 

the extinct animals are illustrated like ghosts,

 the five modern families that vanished due to hunting by humans are in grayscale,

 an online interactive version invites a closer look at the details of the “Wall of Birds,” while the book has a fold-out panorama of the complete artwork

 the publication was co-authored by Thayer Walker, Kim’s husband with whom she co-founded Ink Dwell, Jane Kim working on “the Wall of Birds” all photographs courtesy Ink Dwell and HarperCollins, 

here is a detailed video showing the work in progress, as I mentioned before what an undertaking!