Call Response

Aluminum gutter, contact mic, nickel horn, paint, speaker, wiring, installation at c3:initiative, Portland Biennial, 2016

Site-and species-responsive elements invite humans and flickers to attempt interspecies communication.

Flickers, a common woodpecker, drum on hollow logs and metal to compete for territory and to attract a mate. But their hammering is often drowned out by human noise. These amplifying horns attach to gutters, flicker’s favorite sounding boards, to help them broadcast their drumming to neighborhood flickers, and to exhibition goers inside the gallery.

Call + Response is a collaboration with biologist Dr. Peter Wetherwax, Biology, UO