After many months of hard work and anticipation, Specimen and Andrew Bird’s team of engineers installed the Sonic Arboretum at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art on Monday, December 5, 2011.
During the first week of the exhibit, Andrew used the third floor balcony off the museum’s main atrium as a perch from where he could create new compositions specifically for the exhibit and the museum. It was thrilling to witness his creative process and see museum visitors reacting to the exhibit and the music. After the compositions were recorded, Neil Strauch (engineer extraordinaire) and Andrew manipulated the various loops of violin, guitar, and whistling sending them to specific horn speakers, shifting the sounds around the museum’s atrium creating a spatial phenomenon that is both beautiful and provocative.
The exhibit is open to the public until the end of the month. Do check it out….it is something to behold! Below is a slideshow of photos from the first week of this exhibit.
