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There’s
a creek by my house with a power line going over it. Pigeons sit
on this wire. Sometimes the space between them is fairly regular
and sometimes it varies. Sometimes it looks like a normal distribution
(bell curve), sometimes not. Some researchers think the distance
between birds is similar to the notion of personal space in people.
I became interested in representing this “inter-bird interval”
in a way other than with just a photo. This is what I ended up
with. Please
make sure your speakers are on.
Over
the last two years I've taken dozens of photos of the birds on
this wire. Eventually I hope to “play” them in chronological
order, with different instruments.
On
one occasion I was questioned by the Highway Patrol
while in the act of photographing the birds on this wire.
When the trooper asked me what I was doing, I briefly explained
my interest in sonifying the inter-bird intervals. She was neither
curious nor amused and told me that she was interested
in the Patriot Act and its Homeland Security Provisions. This
time I was amused and laughed. Still not amused and even
more gruff, she said, "I...am...serious". So
I did my best 4th grade boy in trouble imitation and gave her
all my vital statistics, including my web page address. As she
walked back to her patrol car, she stopped, looked back, and said,
" I guess I can't cite you for a traffic violation because
this is not a controlled access highway". She seemed disappointed.
Still, I hope she logs in to see the inrter-bird interval results. |