Excerpts from Bird Brain
Bird Brain (2009) 30'
A multimedia work for live instrumentalists with electronic music accompaniment and animation
Anna Lindemann | music, animation, hats
Lucy Fitz Gibbon | soprano
Damian Blättler | clarinet
Ezra Seltzer | cello
Synful Orchestra | electronics
Margherita Faulkner | poem
Media | stop motion animation, computer animation, video, music for live musicians and electronics
Premiere | April 17, 2009, Sudler Hall at Yale University, New Haven
In a rice forest, a male bird builds an impressive bower of butterflies to attract a mate, while a female bird tends to her nest atop a kitchen stove. We see glimpses into the biology of these creatures as butterfly wings develop and pasta mitosis animates the growth of the incubating egg. Animation, stop motion, and live action film tell the tale of these birds, and live musicians and electronic music unite in songs of penne chromosomes and funky avant-garde jungle rhythms. But what will become of the birds when humans parasitize their world to make outlandish hats? A tale of life and development, death and transfiguration.