Misfortune.
Arrowhead curses.
Deep trails in water.
Hymn in fog.
Loud and mute.
When loons cry the other birds leave.
In the continuing artwork “To dare to be a Corvidae”, I have been attempting to establish communication with crows I meet in everyday life and making field recordings of these interactions. The compositions I, II and III have been presented before at Small Projects (2015), Tromsø Kunstforening (2015) and Lofoten Sound art Symposium (2018)). Through imitating the crows, I have been exploring the possibility to establish interspecies dialogue while also challenging the “normal” way of behaving in our human societies. I’m embodying and taking on the stereotype and persona of “The witch” and “The Crazy Cat/Bird Lady".
In version IV of the artwork “Curse Lament” I have made a new sound art composition which include recordings of singing with the loons at Prestvannet in Tromsø City center, where there has been a huge gathering of loon birds this year. The loon bird is one of the few birds that should not be imitated in local mythology, as it is said to curse the human that does it. Their sounds and my imitation of them have been composed together inspired by the musical structure of cyclic sound compositions of videogame music and joik.
To dare to be a corvidae” is an ongoing art project that deals with ecology and specifically communication between the species. Version IV was presented at nomadic solar energized sound art gallery, Galleri Ruth (http://www.galleriruth.com/) 22.06.2022.