Birdsong, Messiaen, and Synaesthesia
AVAILABLE Forms
Short Film, 21mins (2020)
Video, 6:24” (2016)
Installation (2016, 2021)
Texts (2016~)
Drawings and Paintings(2016~)
Why do birdsongs matter in the age of environmental crisis? Treatise on Rhythm, Color, and Birdsong is a multi-media project that re-interprets Olivier Messiaen, one of the most revolutionary musical composers of the 20th century, as a sonic environmentalist in the age of the Anthropocene. Messiaen is best known for his unusual connections between musical and non-musical sources such as birdsong and sound-color synesthesia. The project re-enacts Messiaen’s experience in desert canyons in 1971 by having a flutist, playing Messiaen’s musical notes based on birdsongs.