Birds Nest Turku

Jan-Erik Andersson and I have been working collaboratively since 1996. The Bird’s Nest sequence is our most recent collaboration, and our most ambitious. Beginning in 2001, these site-specific sculptural works have been installed in a variety of locations, including public spaces – outdoor and indoor cafes, and the grounds of a public arts center – and museums and galleries. The Bird’s Nest explores new ways of developing architecture based on forms found in nature – a long-standing interest of Andersson’s. These forms are combined with kinetic sound works that are likewise derived directly from natural processes – an important element of my sound installation work. The artists see these acoustic and kinetic elements as functioning within the context of architecture as a kind of ornamentation, broadening of the concept of the “ornament” to include sound and rhythm.

Birds Nest Turku was installed at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art in Turku Finland as part of the  exhibition Wild on "Fantasy and Architecture". This nest was one of the first to use speakers driven by the open-source arduino boards - each which eminates small clicks that imitate various insect patterns.  There were roughly 40 speakers used overall within the nest.

Listen to Audio documentation:

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