Motectum

Motectum 2009, 'Gunna'. Performance by Mitra Memarzia.

Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva was Artist in Residence in the Faculty of Media, Art & Communications at the University of Gloucestershire, and based at Gloucester Cathedral from 2008 - May 2009.

The sound installation uses the structure of Thomas Tallis' (1505 - 1585) remarkable 40-voice Spem in Alium. It includes 40 individual sounds, played by 40 speakers around the cloisters. 32 of the speakers play recorded sounds of birdcalls and Gregorian chants while four speakers transmit live bird songs from the Garth (garden) of the cloisters. Four other speakers relay birdsong from nearby Highnam Woods – famous for its nightingales.

Use the audio player above to hear sounds from this exhibition.

As you proceed through the space the voices mix with the sound of birds. Each human voice is matched to a particular bird. Each of the four sides of the cloisters represents one of the four main natural areas of the county of Gloucestershire – the Forest of Dean, Severn Estuary and Vale, Cotswold Hills, and Cotswold Water Park - and its songs are from birds associated with that particular area.

Native trees and shrubs are planted in the Garth to give good cover for the birds to enter, hide and feel safe. Bird feeders attract local birds and invite them to use the space. This sanctuary will remain and continue to evolve beyond my residency.

The 40 small portrait heads made out of pheasants' and ducks' heads were attached to casts of angels from the South Transept, and decorate the ceilings of the gateways into College and Miller’s Green. Their strange beauty and elevated status draw attention to the ambivalence of our relationship with birds, whom we both protect and preserve as well as exploit.

The opening night's performance by Mitra Memarzia confused the discarded and the ceremonial in a gown made out of chicken skins.

Use the audio player above to hear excerpts from her BBC Radio Gloucestershire interview with Andy Vivian on 30 April 2009 (used with permission).

Technical Audio support by Andrew Lansley, University of Gloucestershire and George Moorey, Gloucester.

Bird photos by kind permission of the North Cotswold Ornithological Society from their forthcoming book "Birds of the Cotswolds: A New Breeding Atlas".

The Wildlife Sound Recording Society has provided all of the bird recordings that are being used in this exhibition. www.wildlife-sound.org

For further information please contact:

Chapter Office
Telephone: 01452528095
Website: www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk