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Photograph (C) 2015 Victoria Vesna

BIRD SONG DIAMOND: Sound Matters!

Lecture by Victoria Vesna

“The intent of this project is to permit humans to understand the grammar and meaning of bird songs. Recent advances in sensor arrays, computation, and computational linguistics finally make this long-sought goal achievable.” (Charles Taylor, 2011)
 
Bird Song Diamond is an interactive installation based on long-term research (2011-present) allowing multifaceted, interdisciplinary perspectives – with the artist uniquely connecting the nodes of evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, spatial sound, mechatronic art and interactive technologies. The diamond as a crystal lattice of linked up nodes reflects the commitment of each point to its disciplinary rigor held together in balance through shared interests. The sound art installation is an effort to include multiple new facets of the larger public from art, music lovers to academics, theoreticians and children alike.
 
As an exploration into the interdisciplinary collaboration, the sonic components of the installation are composed under the auspices of the scientific team led by evolutionary biologist and AI expert Charles Taylor who has been systematically categorizing bird sounds and determining the patterns of communication within spatial networks of birds in the field. Taylor also brings to the art sci team many of his collaborators, including ecologist Dr. Martin Cody, linguist Dr. Edward Stabler and physicist Dr. Takashi Ikegami and his group from the University of Tokyo.
 
In this lecture, Victoria Vesna will introduce this project with a background in earlier work infused with sonic environments and discuss its current state and plans for further development.

Victoria Vesna is an artist and professor at the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts and is Director of the UCLA Art | Sci Center. With her performative / interactive installations she investigates how technologies affect collective behavior and communication perceptions of identity shift in relation to scientific innovation (PhD, University of Wales, 2000).Her work involves longterm collaborations with composers, nano-scientists, neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists and she brings this experience to students. Victoria has exhibited her work in solo exhibitions 20+, 70+ group shows, has been published in 20+ papers and gave 100+ invited talks in the last decade.

http://victoriavesna.com

BIRD SONG DIAMOND: Sound Matters!
October 13, 2015, 11:30h