Harmonious Madness

Kobie Nel observed and recorded songbird vocals, fascinated by their instinctive, territorial and sexual vocal signalling to each other during the seasonal change.

​

Teach me half the gladness

​

That thy brain must know,

​

Such harmonious madness

​

From my lips would flow

​

The world should listen then, as I am listening now.

​

To a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1820

‍

‍Harmonious Madness is a sound piece extension from Nel’s living exhibition 'Apple Puma' in Bergen Kjøtt during spring, 2018. This was a living, staged installation that provided a temporary home to 28 canary songbirds whose true colour is dull, but whose ‘neutral’ colour is a shade of yellow achieved through dietary additives. This practice, in the parlance of avian breeding, is known as ‘colour feeding.’

 

Curated by Julie Lillelien Porter in response to the exhibitions Ruškkodit by Britta Marakatt-Labba, Hilde Hauan Johnsen, Kiyoshi Yamamoto and Marie Skeie and Garden by Sasha Pirogova & Marina Fridman at Kunsthall 3,14

 

PARABOL is the name we use for the sound shower located at Kunsthall 3,14’s entrance hall. The sonic works presented here are curated by Lydgalleriet on invitation from Kunsthall 3,14, with the intention of reflecting the always relevant exhibition themes presented upstairs.

​