Evanesce
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Lou Barnell – Manapouri Ghostbirds A close relative retreated to New Zealand a decade ago. The pace of life is slower, and nature is everywhere. On our last visit, we camped on lake Manapouri in fjordland in the South Island. The dawn chorus was incredible. Bell birds, Tui, Grey Warblers and Fantails sang through the thin morning air and into my dreams.  We meet numerous ex-pats starting families, businesses and enjoying refuge from the overcrowding and pressures of European life. The human population of New Zealand has doubled in the last 50 years. But since humans came, the bird populations have decreased by almost 75 percent. On arriving in the South Island in the 1770s, Captain Cook recorded the bird song as ‘deafening.’ Now 153 species out of 200 are threatened with extinction. I have layered field recordings of the Manapouri dawn chorus to recreate how they might have sounded 250 years ago. The bell bird in particular has a beautiful, almost metallic alien song. The end of the piece returns to my original recording which reflects a stark, sad decline. As humans retreat into nature, birds and other wildlife are forced into nonexistence. Ricardo Paraíso Silvestre – Lurker  The word lurker with all of its negative connotations has always fascinated me. Although it became mainstream with the internet, its origin is much older. But why should it have negative connotations? Why can it be just someone who listens, observes and contributes when he or she thinks it’s opportune? Today we are much too worried of not being heard that we are pressured to contribute ideas without first thinking things through. So let’s lurk, observe and listen. Giovanna Iorio – fRAMes These are the sounds of my village in the South of Italy. Some of these villages are ghost towns, sounds are replacing voices. Houses are taken back by nature and they grow their own voice. My dream is to record the soundscape of all these villages. Read more about the installation and the artist. Lily Sloane + Garrett Tiedemann – IRL Real life is a hashtag we’re nostalgic to remember.  |
