Duke Riley's Fly by Night: Pigeons with LED Lights Illuminate Brooklyn Sky

Artist Duke Riley, born in Boston in 1972 and based in New York, released 2,000 pigeons with LED lights attached to their legs over the Brooklyn waterfront for his performance Fly by Night, produced by the nonprofit Creative Time. The piece debuted during Frieze week, with Riley and assistants using poles, flags, and whistles to guide the birds in a thirty-minute hypnotic choreography. Riley described it as a collaborative project between himself and the pigeons, a drawing traced in the sky. He aims to rehabilitate the pigeon's reputation, often dismissed as a 'rat with wings,' by recalling their historical role as valuable messengers. The performance will be repeated every weekend until June 12, weather permitting. Riley previously trained pigeons to smuggle Cuban cigars into Florida in 2013 as a protest against the embargo.