Songs of Love & Hate

Humans have long been fascinated with the idea of being able to communicate with other animals. In the exhibition Songs of Love & Hate, we get to hear what the birds are singing about. It turns out that their concerns are sadly all too human. They sing while lurking amid domestic furniture that is sprouting branches. The five birds sing in what seems to be a charming chorus. But the subtitles reveal that their voices are far from harmonious. The birds are no amoral and homogeneous group whose main purpose is to help us wake up in the morning. Instead, the birds are poisonous racists, broken victims and foul-mouthed protestors. In fact, the birdsong in the show is a human voice that has been processed so that it sounds like a bird singing. Birds are not born with the capacity to sing – like human language, it must be learnt. Young birds mimic the song they hear. While some birds can imitate human speech, here, the table are turned and a human mimics birdsong. Opening of the exhibition Friday 5 April 2024 at 17-19. Welcome!