Wolfgang Müller: Art for Animals

german version

WOLFGANG MÜLLER– SÉANCE VOCIBUS AVIUM– AN ACOUSTIC INSTALLATION TOGETHER WITH LIGHTING BOXES

Wolfgang Müller was born1957 in Wolfsburg, and studied graphics / visual communication / experimental film production at the Hochschule der Künste [University of the Arts] Berlin. A performer, actor, musician and author, he lives and works in Berlin-Kreuzberg and Reykjavík.

The only completely extinct bird originally at home in Europe is the North Atlantic giant auk (Alca impennis). Its last recorded occurrence was on the rocky island of Eldey off Iceland's southern coast. On 3 June 1844 the last two specimens, a breeding pair, were killed by fishermen – they broke the birds' necks – to sell their offspring together with innards to a Danish bird collector. Consequently the call of this bird was never to be heard again.

Back in 1994, on the 160th anniversary of the extermination of the species, Wolfgang Müller reconstructed the bird's call in the radio studio of the Icelandic state broadcasting authority. As a "medium" he used the Icelandic actress Kristbjörg Kjeld. With the help of modern studio technology the call of the bird could be heard again for the first time since it had become extinct.

Other bird species that have become extinct – normally as a result of the indirect influence of man – were native to North and Central America, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Since the 16th century it has been estimated that 150 bird species have died out. Descriptions of the calls of these birds exist only for a very few species.

Müller provided musician friends of his with scientific descriptions of a particular species and then requested the friends to make a reconstruction of the corresponding bird calls and songs (field recordings) which would be as close as possible to the original sounds. These recordings enable us now to hear again the calls and songs of long silent bird species within the framework of the "Art for Animals" project. These are:

Coturnix novae-zelandiae / New Zealand Quail (Namosh)

Moho nobilis / Hawaii O-o (Max Müller)

Dryolimnas cuvieri abbotti / Assumption White-throated Rail (Frieder Butzmann)

Rhodonessa caryophyllacea / Pink-headed Duck (Frederik Schikowski)

Pterodroma hasitata caribbaea / Jamaican Petrel (Justus Köhnke)

Alectroenas nitidissima / Mauritius Blue Pigeon (Annette Humpe)

Tympanuchus cupido cupido / Heath Hen (Francoise Cactus / Brezel Göring)

Sceloglaux albifacies / Laughing/White-faced Owl (Nikolaus Bussmann)

Aplonis fuscus hullianus / Lord Howe Starling (Hartmut Andryczuk)

Polyborus lutosus / Guadalupe Cararara (Khan)

Alca impennis / Giant Auk (Kristbjörg Kjeld /Wolfgang Müller)

www.wolfgangmueller.net