japanese designer handcrafts pigeon pumps for walking around tokyo parks

a japanese designer has created a pair of pigeon-shaped pumps in order to blend in with the urban wildlife at tokyo’s ueno park. while making her way through the busy cityscape one day, keiko ohata decided that she wanted to be more popular with the pigeons, and not scare them away with her feet. using a pair of inexpensive black heels, styrofoam, and felt, ohata designed and handcrafted a set of wearable bird-shaped shoes and took to the park to see the animals’ reactions.

all images courtesy of keiko ohata / daily portal Z

keiko ohata turned the heel of the pigeon shoes into the bird’s legs using wire, while shaping its body and tail to cover the length of her foot. the backwards configuration meant that as ohata walked forward, the animal seemingly walked in reverse — another humorous aspect of the scene. the artist hoped that by wearing the shoes, the pigeons in the park would approach her; instead, she found herself surrounded by flocks of tourists and passersby taking pictures of her inventive feathered footwear.