Matt Heckert

BIRDHOUSE
This is a sound piece made from a recording of my Birds installation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, August 27-November 6,1999.

“A bird consists of a 2' x 7' sheet of aluminum mounted on a pole, which is driven up and down by a motor causing the aluminum to "flap". The motor is a variable speed type allowing varying flapping speeds and thusly-different acoustic values to be achieved.
The room at Center for the Arts was approximately 77' x 67' with a 25' ceiling. 26 Birds were arranged on 2 involute arcs, which were mirrored about the center of the space. All the motors were controlled by a MIDI sequence, which was activated when a viewer would press a button on the wall.”