First it was the Barbican exhibit of zebra finches playing guitars, and then the antique pistols that mechanical birds come out of and dance around. I don't know why birds used in technology always make me happy, but they do. The latest is better to me than pistols or guitars –
It's called Dollar Note, by Robert Gligorov. Apparently there are two white uprights standing back-to-back, and the perches in the birdcage attached to the top touch random keys on the pianos. When the birds jump from perch to perch, the respective notes are played.
I'd love to see and hear the thing IRL, it's beautiful. (via today and tomorrow.)
As you may know by now, sometimes wildly awesome things that have been around for a long time fly completely over my head for months (sometimes years) before I discover them. Barbican Centre might be one of those things. It's an arts complex in London that features visual art, music, dance, theatre, film, and education events. One part of the complex is called The Curve, for very apparent reasons:
The Curve is home to Curve Art, which is "A series of new site-specific commissions created for The Curve by contemporary artists." The one up right now looks awesome. It's by a French artist named Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, and features a bunch of musical instruments arranged throughout the space (mostly electric guitars, it seems). Also in the space: a bunch of little zebra finches!
Boursier-Mougenot’s installation for The Curve, his first solo exhibition in the UK, takes the form of a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other musical instruments. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a random and captivating soundscape.
If that sounds a little confusing, this video should help:
I love that! I like the concept alone, but the way that bright green and flecks of orange are brought together amongst muted grays and butter creams – with distortion and tiny tweets as a background – makes me smile throughout the entire thing.
