THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS (SYRINX SCULPTURES)
The Language of Birds was a practice-based research project carried out at The Royal College of Art in London 2023 whilst completing a Master of Research in Arts and Humanities. The projects' intention was to reveal the hidden language of birds, both via practice - translating the sound language of birds into visual sculptures - and via research, investigating the idea that bird song is a magical language that can open new pathways of knowing. The title of the project nods to the ancient mythological philosophy and belief that birds use a language that communicates only with those initiated. The sculptural works created I refer to as SYRINX SCULPTURES, as the syrinx is the larynx of a bird.
I used a strict methodology of nature-making not man-making, employing technology to translate bird song into sculptures. The aim was to channel a material form from the sound of birds, these forms then to be presented as talismans - the power and magic of nature inherent within them.
During the process of the research I became interested in the philosophy of disidentification, so in hoping to provoke new ways of thinking about our existing taxonomy of sexual identity and as a model of critical disidentification, I decided to work solely with the sound of gynandromorphic birds to create the material forms (a gynandromorph being a creature who presents as both male and female).
I utilised the Syrinx Sculptures in the performance SOUND AS ORACLE these forms creating a space from which I did a reading from my poetry collection AND EIGHT BLACK HORSES RODE BELOW MY WINDOW. The performance was posed as a ritual, an initiation - not only of itself, but also for the artist and audience.
Passer Domesticus (House Sparrow) 250mm x 160mm Binded plaster powder sculpted by 3D Printer (left)
Cardinalis Cardinalis (Northern Cardinal) in plaster sculpted by human hand using a 'sound template' (middle)
Erythrura gouldiae (Gouldian Finch) in Binded plaster powder sculpted by 3D Printer (right)
