I headed down to the curve gallery at Barbican last week to see Céleste Boursier-Mougenot's new comission for the space.
You walk through a darkened gallery where noises and projections add to the anticiapation, until you arrive at the paradise at the other end, whereupon you come across a series of guitars and cymbals and finches flying around the space. The concept is wonderful, the birds land on the instuments and the sounds are amplified around the gallery. However the realisation is not mind blowing, visually all the instruments are on the same 3ft high eye level taking away any sort of enquiry the viewer may wish to do. The relationship between the bird and the sound is very amusing to see and hear and the element of suprise when a finch lands on a new instrument makes everyone smile. As an aural experience this is spot on soun art, but, I do think the artist has neglected the visual in a hope perhps that the cuteness of the finches will float it by.
