Birdsong
Birdsong
Design a way that enables people to experience and interact with birdsong more profoundly, in an urban environment.
But what does ‘profoundly’ mean here? Actively listening to birdsong can be a profound activity by itself, or so we thought, until we realised we were hearing birdsong at all times of the day and night.
Research by Da Silva et al., (2014), Da Silva et al., (2015) and Da Jong (2015) taught us that artificial lighting in urban areas is causing birds to sing outside of their natural daily rhythms.
With this in mind, we decided to bring this experience to life, first, by making a nest.
De Jong et al., 2016
"In this experimental study, we demonstrate for the first time dose-dependent
effects of artificial light at night on birds' daily activity patterns and melatonin levels"
Da Silva et al., 2015
"Our results support the hypothesis that artificial night lighting alters
natural seasonal rhythms, independently of other effects of urbanization"
Da Silva et al., 2014
"Our results show that artificial night lighting, but not noise, leads to an earlier start of dawn singing in 5 out of 6 species."
The building of a birds nest
Making a birds nest was an intricate experience in itself, appreciating how complex and delicate the process is to complete.
Using Arduino and a breadboard to program the input of light into an output of sound, with a direct correlation of
quantity of light = loudness of sound.
This reflects the experience of the birds and the provides the experience for viewers to understand the intensity of the concern.
Photography of the outcome
The final outcome experience
In the dark of night, artificial lighting creates birdsong.
The closer you get, the more intense the lighting upon the next causes sharp, shocking sounds as the birds cry out in disgust against the intrusion upon their habitat.
Reflection
For a two-week project, Birdsong became so impactful to me. The discovery of this damage we (humans) cause to a non-human, and it's effect on a birds' daily routines was eye-opening.
The limitation of the timeframe didn't allow for participant testing to a large degree, however those who did experience it loved the simplicity of the artefact, the curiosity created when being handed a torch, and no explanation, and the discussion that followed after these interactions.