Chanter comme des oiseaux

Chanter comme des oiseaux (Singing like birds), 2020.

7 music scores drawn on printed Hahnemühle paper 220 g/m²
+ 7 music stands.
29.7 x 42 cm (11.7 x 16.5 in) each and various sizes.
Portfolio in canvas board + inside flaps, fastening ribbons.
31 x 42.5 cm (12.2 x 16.7 in).

Solo exhibition They used to sing,
Irène Laub Gallery, Brussels, 2020.

Enghien Biennale Miroirs III, De terre et de ciel
(Of Hearth and Sky), Belgium, 2020.

Chanter comme des oiseaux was presented for the first time in the Pavillon aux Toiles, in the Enghien Park. The scores were placed on music stands arranged in a circle at the center of the pavilion.

Scores were composed after listening to bird songs from all over the world recorded by amateur ornithologists. One discovers unknown birds, whose names form a poetic universe in themselves. Their songs are described using the memory of human or mechanical sound experiences – throat scrapings, children's cries, complaints, but also bicycle pumps, trumpets with mute, etc. The intonations, pitches and lengths of sounds are suggested by signs drawn above each bird mentioned. Visitors can try their hand at (re)producing the songs, alone or with others, in duet or trio, or even in canon, to create a symphony or a cacophony, as they can also be found in nature.