Chirps

 Chirps version II (John in the Cage) is an installation where a set of plastic birds react to the motion and sound of a real mynah bird named John Cage.

Through the implementation of of a circuit made of electronic components and a set of readymade plastic toys, the piece converts the sounds and motion produced by the real bird into the control of the motion and the playback rate of bird toys.

The mechanical bird is the perfect object to create an artificial output based on the natural conditions of the environment. 

The bird toy is a cheap attempt to copy real birds by mechanical means, ie., every bird is built with an audio sample and movements that are meant to resemble real birds. 

The sound and motion of the mynah bird will be used as the value that calibrates the amount of voltage sent to control the movement of the bird toys and the playback of the samples. The orchestra is divided into several groups and each group has its own interpretation of the given data.  

On the other hand, the orchestra’s maestro ( John Cage), with its amazing imitative abilities, responds to the sounds and motion of the plastic birds. 

In this piece the electronic songbirds inherited copying ability is juxtaposed with the natural ability of the mynah bird. 

By addressing the fundamental roles of conducting and being conducted, the work results in an orchestra where both the adaptive ability of the natural-born and the computational singers create a feedback loop, of true biotech nature.