While
visiting Wave Hill, Lewis deSoto noticed the continuous
sound of bird song. In this two-part installation, located
outside beneath the pergola staircase and inside Glyndor
Gallery's spiral stairwell, he tracks the ever-changing
presence of birds. For Haunt (Cantus), deSoto collaborated
with an opera singer who improvised a song in a liturgical
manner. Visitors passing by the pergola staircase leading
to the lower lawn hear the mysterious sound of a woman
singing the Latin names of resident and migrating birds
found at Wave Hill. Haunt (Mortualia Taciturnus), the
interior installation, reveals the silence of birds,
those who no longer travel through Wave Hill due to
extinction or changing migration patterns. The names
of these birds have been applied to the curving wall.
Upon ascending the staircase to read the names, the
pearlescent letters appear in the changing light.
Haunt
(Mortualia Taciturnus), 2002
vinyl letters
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
Printable Version
