By Callum Ludwig
A sound art installation has expanded in the Yarra Ranges and can now be heard on the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail near The Trail Cafe in Mt Evelyn, after initially being exhibited at Birdsland Reserve.
Artist Peter Mcilwain’s Bird Child Spirit project was first installed near the Selby Community House in 2022 and is also set to be installed at Yering Station in spring and Yarra Valley ECOSS in the summer.
Mr Mcilwain said Bird Child Spirit was started by the call out for Yarra Ranges Council’s Art Attack grants.
“I install a lot of small speakers, in this case, seven, at a site and then the sound interacts with the bushland, the sound is dispersed and distributed by the vegetation, the trees and the landscape,” he said.
“Bird Child Spirit focuses on working with local young children and their families to record the children making bird sounds. It’s not just give me an owl or do a kookaburra, sometimes the instructions to the children are to imagine you’re a unique bird and unique and are speaking to one another in bird language.”
The Mt Evelyn installation was underway on 6 May and can be heard until June 4 10am to 5pm Wednesday to Sunday.
Mr Mcilwain said we can experience and enjoy an acoustic space just as much as we can a visual space, we just need opportunities to tune in.
“We’re fortunate enough to live in many areas across the Yarra Ranges where we can encounter large open spaces, and people generally talk about that in visual terms, but of course, there are some amazing acoustic spaces that people can enjoy,” he said.
“I’m trying to promote creative listening, to promote a bit of questioning about what you listen to, what it is you’re actually hearing and your associations with what you’re hearing are and encourage residents to pay a bit more attention to the sounds around them,”
“The sounds made by the children are beautiful and I encourage everyone when they walk in to just enjoy them just simply because they’re gorgeous and funny, beautiful and quietly inspiring.”
Special thanks were given to Tuff Coat Powder Coating for powering the Mt Evelyn exhibition as well as local community groups and families who assisted the project.
