Ricklundgården residency

A three-week artist residency at Ricklundgården in rural Northern Sweden to create new artworks in response to migrating birds and local birdsong between May and June 2013. 

At this time of year this area is under a bird migration flight path, however, unfortunately the migration was early, and I wasn’t able to incorporate this into my work. The weather and the light between May and June are extreme and the effects on birdlife have been reflected in my work. During my stay the landscape changed from thick blankets of snow and an icy lake to high temperatures and sunshine and at this time of year the sun didn’t set (AKA the Midnight Sun), which affected the volume and length of the dawn chorus.

In response to these weather changes and continuous light I have produced a collection of drawings, prints, field recordings and an installation using natural objects that interpret the vocalisations of birdsong.

The team at the Emma Ricklund Foundation where I was staying recommended I travel to Kultsjöluspen, a small area with woodland and easy access to the lake where I recorded the sound of a Greenshank, and Klimpfjäll which had been notorious for rare bird spotting including Stekeujokk mountain, where I recorded the sound of two male Bramblings who were repeatedly mimicking each other’s song in quick succession. I met birdwatchers Inga and Nils in Laxbäcken to record the song of blackcaps and Curlews circling the marshy lake; a common stop off point for migrating birds to refuel before carrying on with their journey. I also climbed Satsfjället mountain where I spotted a family of reindeer and a Ptarmigan and heard the distant calls of a cuckoo and Capercaillie.

The artworks below interpret the sounds of birds heard whilst listening in the studio, the garden and at various birding sites. Focusing on the tone, pitch, direction, speed and pattern of bird vocalisation by using a combination of instinctive mark making and using Raven Lite, a sonogram software to process my field recordings. The sonogram images below show light and dark areas which are interpreted as quiet (light) and loud (dark) sounds sometimes ascending or descending and demonstrating a distinct repetitive pattern. A selection of drawings were produced and used as anti-window strikes after several Bramblings collided with the large studio window, these used drawings of the bird’s song and were contained within a triangle or circle to reflect a potential hazard or no entry sign. With some drawings featuring the words ‘Fara fönster!’ (the Swedish translation for ‘Danger window’) and magnetic fields to demonstrate some bird’s ability to perceive not only the visible range but also the ultraviolet, polarised light and magnetic fields. 

The work uses various drawing mediums including charcoal, pen, ash and drawing ink, print making techniques using fire ash and water to make a paste and installation using natural objects (lichen, grass, twigs, leaves, stones, pinecones and feathers) collected from the gardens. As a birding novice I find it easier to remember which bird makes what sound/s by giving each song and call a visual representation, similar to artist Olga Karlíková in her work ‘Audible landscapes’.