Guitars, cymbals & zebra finches at the barbican

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s installation at the Barbican’s Curve Gallery may be my new favourite interactive art piece. By arranging horizontally mounted amplified Les Paul guitars, cymbals and basses on grassy islands around an airy exhibition space with 40 zebra finches, the Nice-born composer and musician has created a piece that’s equal parts art, music and ornithology.

An earlier version of the work was described as a form of aleatoric music, wherein some element of the composition is left to chance and/or dependent on the whim of the performers. These (darker) male and (lighter) female zebra finches flit happily from instrument to instrument, unintentionally playing chords as they go. And according to the Barbican’s description of the work, the gallery visitors are just as important to the resulting soundscapes as the actual performers:

The piece relies on the visitors’ movements around the space, which elicit counter movements by the birds, resulting in a subtle choreography.

…What is more, Boursier-Mougenot has tuned the guitars and basses so that whenever a string is touched it produces a clear chord.

It’s rather mesmerising watching them go about their business, swinging on hanging guitar leads and bathing merrily in an upturned cymbal filled with water. At one point while I stood watching a male and female meticulously re-arranging a blade on grass on a guitar bridge, a curious male came and hopped onto my shoe. I actually froze a little - possibly due to stage fright as many of the other visitors stopped to watch the encounter - as he pecked at the frayed edges of my ancient Converse*.

The birds’ welfare has been monitored by the relevant authorities, and gallery visitors are limited to 25 at a time. This makes it quite relaxing as there’s plenty of room to find your own space/performer to watch. The friendly attendant informed me that the birds are happily nesting and even laying eggs (with 63 laid so far), while the Guardian reported their reproductive behaviour even stopped the show last month, when an egg was discovered balancing on one of the guitars.

The Barbican is also hosting a number of events related to the work, including a discussion on birdsong and how it inspires musicians, and an exploration of unexpected places and the nature of sound at the Songlines Family Workshop. If you can’t make it, check the video below.

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at the Curve, Babican Art Gallery, Silk St, London UK. Free admission (go early to avoid the queues) until 23 May 2010.

*I’ve since read one visitor had an egg laid in her handbag, which I think wins in terms of performer/audience interaction.

<Images from Scopict Le Monde, Harsh Media, Getty, video from the Barbican>