Attending Captures (2021)

Sahar Te and Rouzbeh akhbari

Inspired by long-established linguistic and musical inter-connections between various bird species and humans, this experiential project invites the audience to become extra aware of the site's surrounding soundscapes. The platforms and the opposing trees function as demarcated sites in which the viewers have the opportunity to engage in deep listening. Blurring the lines between the visitors as the audience vs. the performer, "Attending Captures" gives rise to a moment of contemplation. By relying on tree species that attract local birds as well as parabolic sound reflectors commonly used by bird watchers to distinguish hard-to-hear calls in the wild, Akhbari and Te have created an interspecies eavesdropping opportunity.