Mark Dion’s inSITE2000 project, Blind/Hide, included the construction of a bird blind sited in the Tijuana River Estuary Reserve. Camouflaged to blend into the surrounding terrain, the structure was outfitted as a fully functional field station and mecca for bird enthusiasts. The interior housed photographs, charts, and reference books on the 370 bird species that could be found at the reserve, as well as the devices, guides, and art materials that might have been useful to a nineteenth-century naturalist. Located in Imperial Beach in southwest San Diego and within view of the border fence, the Tijuana River Estuary remains an especially unique confluence of environmental, military, and geopolitical issues. While the reserve is found at the most polluted estuary in the United States, it is simultaneously home to the most species of migratory birds that make this site an important stop on their journey.
This new iteration of Dion’s Blind/Hide expands the original inSITE2000 project through the introduction of an on-site library and an extended research focus on avian migratory trajectories in the region. While the original bird blind functioned as both camouflage and field station, this version foregrounds the accumulation and circulation of knowledge itself—mapping how birds traverse ecological, national, and militarized boundaries. The expanded library, comprising historical field guides, scientific studies, and contemporary research on migration, positions the work as a living archive.