Baguette microphone
20 July 2011
The ha
lf-baked baguette worked as a perfect host for my NT55 Rode microphone. Previous recordings of pigeons at the canal had been distorted due to the loud sounds coming from the nearby factory and also the canal, in particular the weir.
The pigeons took a little coaxing, (there was already a pile of bread crumbs left by someone else to compete with!) to feed off the baguette microphone, but once they started it was a challenge to get them to stop and they quickly found the microphone.
I wanted to record the sounds of pigeons feeding and was inspired by Chris Watson, at a course organised by Wild Eye. He spoke about his time in the dessert recording the sound of vultures feeding off a dead zebra carcass and how he had successfully added a microphone to the skeleton.
I walk along the canal and see the pigeons everyday, if they have been left food they tear it apart, so it is more manageable to eat, by flinging it with their beaks, fighting off seagulls and other birds. I wanted to record this intimate sound, but what I got was a muffled recording. The hum of the factory, the occasional snort, squeak and wing flap from a pigeon, but mainly an aggressive pecking which sounded like an attack on the microphone. This wasn’t the best way to record pigeons feeding, the microphone had an omni-directional head on it, so no matter where the pigeon was feeding from, its ‘peck’ could be heard. Perhaps next time I need to use a clip tie microphone attached to the baguette or make a frame for it to sit in above the bread to be able to take a more realistic and clear recording.
Listen to baguette microphone approx 2.30 mins
Bread trail
18 July 2011
There’s still bread crumbs dotted around the house after this experiment. I made a trail of bread crumbs from the bottom of the stairs to the toilet seat in our house. If I had a studio space this is the kind of experiment that would happen there.
I’m interested in using food that would usually be throw for the pigeons. I’ve seen people throw down whole carrier bags of bread at the canal, I’ve also recently seen more rats lurking.
Feeding Frenzy sun prints
17 July 2011
There’s a few ideas for projects involving pigeons, paint, sun print paper, bread, seed, fans, projections, whistles, monitors and video that I want to try out.
I drove to the canal to have a go at the sun print paper idea.
I wanted to use a different method to document feeding the pigeons, so I used sun print paper (or nature print paper). The paper is coated with light sensitive chemicals that react when exposed to light. When solid objects are placed on the paper, they block the light and turn white, while the paper around them remains blue. To encourage the pigeons to stand on the paper and essentially make their mark, I covered the paper with bread and seed. It wasn’t hard to encourage the pigeons to feed off the paper, as this is the same group of birds I usually feed every Wednesday for Project Pigeon Watch (gathering one year’s worth of data on pigeon colour morphs and courtship behaviour, to produce a sound composition). I drove to the canal so that I could use the boot of my car as a processing area. It had a tray of water that was used to ‘fix’ the image after approx 1 minute exposure to sunlight.
The importance of a studio space
4 July 2011
Its been just over two months since my return from France as part of an artist residency at CAMAC (centre for art, science and technology). I stayed in the rural and remote surroundings of the Champagne region for a month and developed three audio- visual installations: ‘The End of the Line’, ‘Egg Box Messages’ and ‘Under the Seine’. All three pieces would not have been possible if I hadn’t been given a fantastically large studio to myself where I was able to make lots of noise, record sound and play it back (very loudly).
The Great Central Gallery: Time and space to reflect, develop ideas and create practical work without distraction.
Since I’ve been back in Leicester I have been trying to recreate the studio environment I had at CAMAC. The Great Central Gallery have been kind enough to let me use their gallery space (during change over periods), although I’ve only used this space twice, it has allowed me the time to reflect on the work created at CAMAC, to listen to sound recordings and visualise ideas in a practical way, that I find impossible at home. There are a number of studio spaces in Leicester, including The Great Central Gallery, Knighton Lane artists group, The Attic, LCB Depot and Fabrika. CUSP are an artist collective made up of DMU Fine Art graduates, who will be opening a new artist-led gallery and studios in the Highcross, I’m hoping to have a space in the CUSP studios when they open in August.
Exploring different approaches to adapt 'The End of the Line' to ensure it can be installed into any space.
