“Birds Singing other Birds Songs (Audible Writing Experiments)” by María Mencía

Title:

Birds Singing other Birds Songs (Audible Writing Experiments)

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):



• María Mencía

Symposium:

• ISEA2002: 11th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

• Warehouses 4 & 20 on the Garden Pier in the port of Nagoya , Nagoya , Japan

Medium:

Digital animation

Artist Statement:

Birds Singing other Birds Songs is a sound and video piece, which has been produced using various digital and multimedia programmes (Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash). The conceptual basis for the work is an exploration into the idea of the translation process: from birds’ sounds into language and back to birds’ songs via the human voice with the knowledge of language, These birds are animated ‘text bids’ singing the sound of their own text while flying in the sky. The letters, which create their physical outlines, correspond to the transcribed sound made by each of the birds. Nevertheless, the sound doesn’t correspond to the visual representation of the real bird. The sound is produced by the human voice slightly manipulated in the computer. The birds appear on screen in a random manner. This work is also in the form of an interactive piece where the user can choose the birds he/she want to see flying in the sky. Installation space: projection onto a covered window, giving the impression of a window or onto a big glass window.