Sonic Arboretum

Sonic Arboretum @ the ICA Boston Feb 4th – May 10th

See Andrew Bird and Ian Schneller’s “Sonic Arboretum” at the The Institute of Contemporary Art:Boston from February 4th – May 10th. More information can be found at icaboston.org

Recorded in the Coyote Gulch canyons of Utah, Echolocations: Canyon is first in a series of short films and recordings which document site specific compositions performed by Andrew Bird and filmed by Tyler Manson in exceptional natural and urban environments. Bird says:

“Ever since I was a child I would test different spaces with my voice or whistle or violin. Whatever sound you make it’s like a giant limb that can reach beyond your fingers and grope the corners of the room. Now when I’m on tour playing a different theater every night we “tune” the room, hunting down the bass traps and the standing waves to give the listener the most even and wide spectrum of sound. There are certain frequencies that resonate while others are lifeless. Sometimes the room refuses to yield and I have to consider playing different songs that will work in that room. It’s a challenge but I enjoy the moments when I must yield to the environment. So I thought it would be interesting to take all this outside where the reflections off the landscape are triggering countless inferences and steering the conversation.”

 

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Guggenheim Sound Installation

Whistling indie star Andrew Bird has teamed up with sculptor and inventor Ian Schneller on a sound sculpture called “Sonic Arboretum”, which will come to New York’s Guggenheim Museum on August 5. Schneller, formerly of the 80s experimental indie band Shrimp Boat, has built an army of various-sized horn speakers shaped like old-fashioned Victrolas, which will be arranged into an “ecosystem” on the Guggenheim’s rotunda floor. (more…)

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