Nina Katchadourians’s Please, Please, Pleased to Meet’cha sharpens the sense of hearing and spotlights the songs of resident and migrating birds. This generated @ wavehill project, focuses on linguistic and visual descriptive systems developed by ornithologists and bird watchers to describe the captivating and complex sounds made by birds. Because the project is about a translation between bird and human sounds, the voices that you hear are United Nations translators enlisted by Katchadourian to articulate the songs using the diagrams, mnemonics, phonetic, and expressive descriptions.
The project also suggests a new way to experience Wave Hill gardens by leading visitors to trees in locations they might not ordinarily visit. Stand under each tree, listen to the voices interpreting the bird song, and hear the interplay between the human voices and the surrounding songs of the real birds. Click here to view a map of the grounds noting the locations of trees the birdsong can be heard in.
The birdsongs that you encounter can be heard in the vicinity of Wave Hill at different times of the year. The Black-capped Chickadee and the Common Grackle are found here year-round. The Gray Catbird and the Red-winged Blackbird are present from spring to fall. The Chestnut-sided Warbler and White-throated Sparrow are here from fall to spring.
Click to read Please, Please, Pleased to Meet’cha by Nina Katchadourian
A catalogue with the texts used by the translators to interpret the birdsongs accompanies the exhibition. Click on the birdsong to hear the interpretation and click on the bird name to see the text.
Nina Katchadourian’s work spans a wide variety of disciplines, including sculpture, photography, video and sound. Her work has often oriented itself around “nature” as a concept, construct and site. Past projects, including the Mended Spiderweb series (1999), Animal Crossdressing (2003), and Natural Car Alarms (2002) explore the ways in which we place ourselves in relation to the natural world, and the simultaneous and often contradictory desire to find both similarity and difference there. Translation has also played a central role in past works such as Talking Popcorn (2001) and Accent Elimination (2006). Her most recent solo show was in January 2006 at the Turku Art Museum, Finland. In June 2006 the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY presents a survey show of her work from the past 15 years. Katchadourian is represented by Sara Meltzer Gallery in New York and Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco.
www.ninakatchadourian.com
Listen to Nina Katchadourian speak about her project on NPR's Studio 360: http://www.studio360.org/show.html
Bird Related Public Programs
September 9, 10, 1-4pm, Family Art Project, be inspired by the sights and sounds of birds – late summer migrants, year-round residents and human imitators – then make collage print mobile with guest artist Moses Ros. Free with admission.
October 15, 2pm, David Rothenberg - Why Birds Sing: Musician, composer, author and philosopher-naturalist David Rothenberg plays clarinet with a band of birds and crickets blending the indigenous energy of the world's primal music with the exploratory spirit of improvisation. For ticket information contact 718.549.3200 x213
October 22, 9am, Bird's Bounty Garden Walk, with naturalist Gabriel Willow and interpretive gardener Charles Day. To register call 718.549.3200 x305
October 21, 22, 1 & 2:30pm, Family Art Project, Sing and dance along to bird-inspired music of Jody Kruskal, followed by a hands-on art project. Free with admission.
NYC Audubon members receive free admission to Wave Hill and discounted fees to programs with ID, June-October.
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Please, Please, Pleased to Meet’cha is presented in collaboration with New York City Audubon. www.nycaudubon.org |
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Support for the project is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation. |
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Principal funding for the visual arts program is provided by the Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Charitable Trust. Additional support is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the Hess and Helyn Kline Foundation, Target Corporation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts–a state agency. Sustaining support for Wave Hill is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Arts at Wave Hill are sponsored by 
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