Concerto for Extinct Birds

Ten speakers, arranged in a ring, play recordings of ten extinct bird species. Each speaker plays only one species. Those ten species are the only out of all the extinct birds that we have recordings of.

In nature, these sounds would have never been heard in the same place nor at the same time, and will now nevermore be heard in nature. In this decachannel audiosculpture, they have been composed into a structure derived from classical music, in which the Kaua‘i o’o is the soloist. None of the timings in the calls themselves have been altered.

The disappearance of these sounds have changed the landscapes. Did anyone notice? What does it mean to irretrievably lose the sounds of a landscape?

The design of each speaker module is inspired by Voigt pipes and instrument making.

Walnut, spruce, speaker, cable, electronics; 210 x 210 x 25 cm; 2024

Last two photographs by Alice Stellaph