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.

Call (exterior gutter to interior horn)
Copper gutter, contact mic, nickel and brass horn, paint, speaker, wiring, dimensions variable, 2016

Flicker drumming is broadcast from the exterior to the interior.

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

Response (human to flicker)
Audio MP3, 00:11, arduino, amplifiere. mixer, wiring, 2016

Inside, a copper gutter is turned into a touch-sensitive instrument that will broadcast an audio sample of flicker drumming to neighborhood flickers when touched. 

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

Response (human to flicker)
Audio MP3, 00:11, arduino, amplifiere. mixer, wiring, 2016

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

Response (human to flicker) 

Alternatively, the gutter can be played with drumsticks. 

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

Translation (flicker to human, human to flicker) 
Archival print, metal stand, drumsticks, 20”x20”x40”, 2016

Musical and spectograhic notional systems are presented to help humans learn flicker.

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