Experiments in sounds and time/space: Transpiration

The triptych links the two other installations, and takes their premise further by looking at trees to explore the contradictions and complexities of current ecological and political debates relating to woodlands.

Sap and chlorophyll are taken as metaphors for the symbiotic nature of woodlands, and our complex relationships with them.

Birdsong is also a good indicator of the overall health of a woodland. It is mostly produced by small birds who have to expend a huge amount of energy in producing the volume of sound required to transmit through the trees. Birds cannot sing unless they have sufficient food to eat.

The soundtrack involves a symphony of three different types of birdsong –
-One is stretched (apparently birds interprete song at 3 times the speed that humans do, so can distinguish complex readings of the call/song).
-One is in human real time - i.e. how we normally hear birdsong
-One is synthetically created using a mobile phone