Relational Transmissions
Generative sound sculpture, 2011
Erika Lincoln (CA)
The artist created this work after observing a flock of starlings in her urban neighbourhood. They would imitate car alarm sounds from a nearby auto garage, as well as other electronic traffic sounds. In researching this behaviour, she found that starlings are mimics of other bird calls and other sounds in their environment; it is the way they learn their songs. Relational Transmissions is a sound sculpture that simulates a song repertoire of a flock of urban starlings. Using generative audio playback software, a database of car alarm audio samples is randomly played while the pitch and tempo of each sample is manipulated. The resulting sounds mimic the chirps, whistles, and clicks of urban starlings.
BIO
Erika is a Canadian artist whose practice is centred around the nature of systems; in particular, how they hold knowledge, transmit ideas, and control behaviour. She works primarily in sculpture and includes drawing, sound, video, and kinetics as part of her approach. Over the past seventeen years, she has exhibited in galleries, media art festivals, and museums in North America, Europe and Australia. Erika has participated in residencies at the Banff New Media Institute in Canada and Medialab Prado in Spain, and was artist in residence with Winnipeg's Planning Department. Her work has been shown at many exhibitions, including COLLISION: Stealing from the Real at Boston Cyberarts Gallery, USA; Sensing the Future: Moholy-Nagy, Media and the Artsat Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin, Germany; Machines — The Shapes of Movement, Manif d’Art, Quebec, Canada; and The Singing Condition, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Canada.