Output details

The Voice and the Lens

BIRD/bɜː(r)d/ (versions 1 and 2): HD from original 16mm film, 2012. Collaborative work in two parts with singer Loré Lixenberg, commissioned by Ed McKeon (Third Ear Productions) and Sam Belinfante, for 'The Voice and the Lens', an exhibition launched at IKON Gallery Birmingham (2012), financially supported by Sound and Music and PRS for Music Foundation.

Version 1: 10 minutes, b/w, 16mm film transferred to HD video for gallery installation.

Version 2: 17 minutes, extended version with additional sound, accompanied by singer’s live performance.

BIRD/bɜː(r)d/ builds on my interest in the notation of birdsong, the ‘figurative’ within music and the filmed music ‘document’, also diegetic, non-diegetic and live sound.

For ‘The Voice and the Lens’, paired artists and vocalists were invited to contribute to each other's craft, exploring processes and languages at play within film, performance and documentation, leading to a single screen film and live performance. I was paired with singer Loré Lixenberg who brought her own score based on bird song and characteristic bird movements to the collaboration, unveiling a shared interest in the musicality of birdsong and the metaphysical symbolism of birds. We filmed among the pianos at Steinway Hall London, whose open lids reflected the performance both visually and sonically, exploring diagetic, non diagetic and live sound

The group exhibition at IKON featured installed projected works and evening performances, contextualised through presentations and discussions exploring the history of opera on film to present day. A newspaper style publication accompanied the event. The discussion and publication aimed to explore the experience of collaboration, in particular non-hierarchical working methods, and how this differed from more familiar approaches. Future venues include Spitalfields Festival London, 2014 and Arnolfini, Bristol.

Loré performed BIRD/bɜː(r)d/: Version 2 in Austria at Die Alte Schmeide, Vienna, on 21st February 2013.