From Here to Ear – Céleste Boursier-Mougenot

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot brings his renowned sound installation "From Here to Ear" (v.22) hosting 88 zebra finches interacting with bass and electric guitars to Switzerland.

Yverdon-Les-Bains Centre d'Art Contemporain

29 July–5 November.

Opening reception on 29 July 12pm

In "From Here to Ear" (v. 22) we are invited to enter the finches’ territory; a light and poetic soundscape, complete with labyrinthine pathways that we can explore as we witness how the finches gather on the strings, drink from upside-down cymbals in the sand and nest in hanging clusters. The installation offers an immersive experience that stimulates all our senses. Our movements become part of the work, equally important as the finches’ reactions, because our presence in the room affects the birds, prompting constant changes to the unpredictable music.

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot (b. 1961) lives and works in Sète, France. Having been a composer with the French avant-garde theatre Pascal Rambert for ten years, he began working with installation art in the mid-1990s, incorporating sounds and stage craft from the realm of theatre in his art. Boursier-Mougenot has presented solo exhibitions at prominent venues such as Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in Montréal, Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the Barbican Art Gallery in London. In 2015 he represented France at the Venice Biennale.

Artworks courtesy | Céleste Boursier-Mougenot | CC
Text | Copenhagen Contemporary

Here is a preview of "From Here to Ear" in Copenhagen last year.