Inhabit
https://www.rosienewman.com/earth
Participants where invited to take part in a socially engaged art encounter with me. Initially this involved them sitting or standing alone in a forest, (near Inverness) within eyesight of each other but focused on listening to an indiviudal bird's song. Using their phones, they were then asked to record themselves imitating the whistles, clicks and chirps of the bird they could hear. The audios were later collated and arranged as 'rounds' on three different speakers and set into a collection of handmade birdhouses (from wood, moss, hair and grass) which were placed amongst a tower of wooden chairs facing inwards to form a huddle.
These experimental, often humourous, wordless voices explored the mysterious connections that humans have to each other and to the natural environment. The aesthetic of the work was experienced in different ways by the visitor who walked amongst the bird/human voices, as though through an imaginary woodland. The binaural audio changed pitch, sequences, frequencies, and patterns depending on where the person stood in the installation and at what particular place and time it was. It was almost impossible for anyone to experience or hear exactly the same thing.
A collection of photographs of handmade nests were tucked between the chairs and discovered by the audience as they explored the installation.
The interactive installation provoked a response from the audience, which included intrigue when they began to explore and a sense of wonder and connection whilst they listened and touched the objects and then laughter in response to realising that the sounds were of humans imitating birds.
Nests are often used in art as a metaphor for home and for our collective return to our connection with nature. "We dream of coming back to the house, the way the bird comes back to the nest" say's Gaston Bachelard.
Materials: Recordings of human voices, wooden chairs, hand-made bird dwellings consisting of moss, lichen, horse and dog hair, peacock & swan feathers, wild grasses, flowers, clay, mud, and seaweed.
The video shows the work being shown at the BIC summer show 2019: To listen to the audio, follow these links;
https://vimeo.com/351192948
