Subirdia

Stainless steel, speaker, WAV audio files
96 × 21 × 17 in
244 × 54 × 44 cm
2022

Richard Humann • Subirdia at Casa Bianca Sculpture Park, Castelnuovo Calcea, Piedmont, Italy, 2022

“I am a cage, in search of a bird.”
— Franz Kafka

Subirdia is a stainless-steel sculpture of a birdhouse that sits upon a pole. Inside the sculpture is a speaker and sound system that broadcasts electronic bird songs through the entrance hole in the façade. Projected from the speaker are noises that have been recorded from the interior of homes, such as squeaking cabinet doors, a microwave, fax machine, refrigerator, clocks, washer, dryer, and other common clatter heard within an active household. The recorded sounds have then been edited and produced into WAV format audio files.

Like a bird that calls out into the wilderness in search of a mate, the projected songs that emanate from the sculpture are the mating calls of humans in their attempt of impressing a potential partner. A bird trumpets out the prospect of comfort, safety, and security. Subirdia offers the same, but with the promise of a brick-and-mortar, post and beam, or aluminum-sided shelter, a neatly mowed lawn, trimmed hedgerows, soft carpets, tree-lined driveway, and a two-car garage. The mechanized Subirdia bird songs are an audio lure, cast out to those in hearing range that a dream home, and a dream life beckons them inside.

Collection at Casa Bianca Sculpture Park, Castelnuovo Calcea, Asti Provence, Piedmont, Italy.

Photo credit: Richard Humann Studio