LOST SONG, 2022

Sculpture, wall drawings, sound

Lost Song is a visual interpretation of the song of the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera Phrygia) by Blue Mountains artists Ro Murray and Mandy Burgess. The work aims to highlight the plight of bird’s survival.

Once widespread in large numbers from South Australia to Central Queensland, the population of the Regent Honeyeater has plummeted to an estimated three hundred individuals in a space of fifty years, bringing it to the verge of extinction. Land clearing and bushfires have affected its habitat, and predators and seasons of reduced blossom limit their chances of survival. Now there are not enough mature male birds to teach the young males the mating song necessary to attract a mate and to continue the species.  Many now imitate the call of other birds, and its own song has become simplified and abbreviated.

The exhibition incorporates sculptural installation, charcoal wall drawings which are transcriptions of the spectrographs of the birdsong, and a commissioned sound work by Felicity Wilcox titled Call, And?... (a) Response performed in the exhibition by musicians Jane Sheldon (soprano), Claire Edwardes (marimba), and Jason Noble (clarinets).

Murray and Burgess are the creative partnership of Ro Murray and Mandy Burgess, who work from a studio in Dhurag country, at Mt Victoria. Their installation work concerns the climate change and the environment. Highlights this year have been Sculpture at Sawmillers, North Sydney Art Prize, Eden Unearthed and Canberra Art Biennial. They are members of the art association Modern Art Projects Blue Mountains. (www.murrayandburgess.com.au)

A Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Exposé Program

Murray and Burgess would like to acknowledge the assistance of Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Taronga Zoo and BirdLife Australia in the development of this exhibition. The commissioned sound work has been funded by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

FELICITY WILCOX

Call, And?... (a) Response

Electroacoustic Composition

Call, And?... (a) Response is a composition in three parts; in Call, the Regent Honey Eater’s wonderfully musical song is overlaid with my transcription of it for the trio. Music and birdsong interweave until the song becomes unrecognisable from its source – a metaphor for the disruption of the Regent’s mating song, which now threatens its very survival. And?... is a sombre and reverent eulogy to the lost song and, and asks the question: ’where to from here?’ Finally, (a) Response is my answer to that question, which is that humans must find a way to live in harmony with the Regent. Here, to centre its beauty, I take motifs from the birdsong and develop them into chorale, counterpoint, and refrain, to offer a playful and hopeful response to what is a dire reality for one of our most defenceless fellow creatures. What will your response be?

Felicity Wilcox, composer

Felicity Wilcox is an award-winning Australian composer. She has received commissions for many leading ensembles and international festivals, and has composed the soundtracks for over 60 screen productions. She is Senior Lecturer in Music and Sound Design at UTS, and lives on unceded Darug Country in the Blue Mountains. (https://www.felicitywilcox.com).

Performed by Jane Sheldon (soprano), Claire Edwardes (marimba), Jason Noble (clarinets)

Field recordings of Regent Honey Eater Call (courtesy Xeno Canto)

Music Recording by John Stuart, Sound Heaven Studios.

Call, And?... (a) Response has been made possible by funding from Create NSW.