tristesse (engraved)
issue march 2011
contents * page 4: ‘bird shadow puppet’ by Pheobe Law * pages 5-38: a gathering of wings * pages 40-47: ‘le premier oiseau’ by cecile schott / colleen * pages 48-73: ‘little wind and birds’ by hanna tuulikki * page 74: five birds by cohen ruhlmann * pages 75-89: alfred may * pages 90-95: john james audubon * pages 96-100: thomas brown * pages 101-107: alexander wilson * pages 108-112: george edwards * pages 113-117: john gould * pages 118-122: archibald thorburn * pages 123-166: a further gathering of wings
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bird shadow puppet by Pheobe Law
a gathering of wings
‘le premier oiseau’ by Colleen (Cécile Schott) http://www.colleenplays.org/
Hanna Tuulikki little wind and birds Humankind has long been fascinated with birds. People have drawn and sculpted them, imitated them with their voices and musical instruments, told stories and written poetry about them. Since ancient times, because of the birds’ connection to the sky, they have been thought of as a supernatural link between the heavens and the earth. Middle Eastern and Asian cultures often speak of birds as symbols of immortality. In East Indian myth, every bird in the world represents a departed soul, and in Christian art, birds often appear as saved souls.
1 - 2. Salutation to the Sun (Replica) Birds and scores 2006 These drawings were made to go with a sound piece, Salutation to the Sun (Replica) a sonic representation of an early spring dawn chorus. The 30 different bird sounds are made up entirely from a single human voice. To imitate the sound of the 30 different birds, a field recording of each bird was slowed down. At this pitch and speed, the sounds are more accessible to the human ear. Whilst listening at this speed, a phrase of each bird was roughly transcribed onto a piece of paper to create a visual score. Using the score as a reminder, I imitated each track with my voice. This recording was then sped up to the same frequency as the bird and used in the final composition.
3. Cuckoo 2011 Within various folk musics from around the world there are many traditions of imitating natural sounds. Imitation or mimesis can be understood as an acoustic replication of specific sounds, using vocal or instrumental sounds to emulate the sounds particular to an individual species or natural phenomenon, such as the call of the seal, the breaking of waves and the songs of birds. I was very aware of this tradition in far-flung corners of the world but not so aware of people imitating natural sounds in music closer to home. That was until I started to investigate. An obvious example of this can be found in The Cuckoo, a British folk song that imitates the sound of the cuckoo in its melody. Anne Briggs recorded The Cuckoo in 1971 for her self-titled album. The cuckoo's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies. She brings us good tidings, tells us no lies. She sucks the little birds' eggs to keep her voice clear, And when she sings “cuckoo!” the summer draws near. As I walked down by the side of a bush I heard two birds whistling, the blackbird and the thrush. I asked them the reason so merry they be, And the answer they gave me, we are single and we are free. A-walking, a-talking, a-walking was I, To meet my true lover, he'll come by and by, To meet him in the meadows is all my delight, A-walking and talking from morning till night. Meeting is pleasure but parting is a grief And an inconstant lover is worse than a thief. A thief can but rob me and take all I have, But an inconstant lover sends me to my grave. And the grave, it will rot me and bring me to dust, An inconstant lover no maiden can trust, They'll court you and kiss you and vow they'll be true And the very next moment they'll bid you adieu. The cuckoo's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies, She brings us glad tidings, tells us no lies, And when her time is come, her voice we don't hear, And where she goes we do not know until another year. The cuckoo has come to symbolize the joy and the fickleness of new love. As A.L. Lloyd comments in Briggs’ album notes, the cuckoo is an “ambiguous bird, herald of spring and harbinger of cuckoldry”. At the moment I am currently exploring the tradition of imitating bird songs and calls within Scottish Gaelic folk songs and rhymes, with the aim to develop a site-specific vocal piece that that draws upon these.
4. Twa Corbies 2007 This drawing was partly inspired by the Scottish folk song Twa Corbies where two crows or ravens are out to scavenge a meal and discuss in some gruesome detail the meal they will make out of a newly slain knight. Here, the song does not imitate the sounds of the Crows, but perhaps mimesis could also be understood as the use of metaphor in the figurative imitation of a given image. As I was walking all alane, I heard twa corbies makin a mane; The tane unto the ither say, "Whar sall we gang and dine the-day?" "In ahint yon auld fail dyke, I wot there lies a new slain knight; And nane do ken that he lies there, But his hawk, his hound an his lady fair." "His hound is tae the huntin gane, His hawk tae fetch the wild-fowl hame, His lady's tain anither mate, So we may mak oor dinner swate." "Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane, And I'll pike oot his bonny blue een; Wi ae lock o his gowden hair We'll theek oor nest whan it grows bare." "Mony a one for him makes mane, But nane sall ken whar he is gane; Oer his white banes, whan they are bare, The wind sall blaw for evermair." Because of their dark feathers, unsettling calls, and tendency to eat carrion, crows and ravens are often understood as omens of death in European folk stories. They symbolise the physical aspect of death and decay as well as a more spiritual aspect, or transition of the spirit into the afterlife. In Twa Corbies the crows become symbols of movement between life and death, with the lyrics suggesting the idea that life goes on after death as the knight’s flesh is recycled back into the fabric of the universe aided by the birds, and the bones are left to be a striking monument in the landscape. In my drawing, the Corbies are sitting on houses with ladder, which for me, represent different aspects of the psyche. Here, I am inviting the Corbies to pick out the bad and dead bits of me, to start something afresh.
5. Bring the Songthrush to Land Nalle: Wilder Shores of Love Booklet art 2010 This image was used in the Nalle album artwork for Wilder Shores of Love, 2010, illustrating two songs in one drawing. Songthrush was written the day after an encounter with one in the woods near my folksʼ home in Sussex.
As I went out one may morning To walk and take the air I heard a songthrush singing For me he seemed to care. “Why are you travelling alone, alone? Follow me, follow me O up into this very tall tree, O up into this very tall tree.” I followed him into his tree Into his very fine nest Where I felt his body close to mine My head upon his breast. “Stay with me, lay with me A while, a while, Little girl, little bird O up inside this very tall tree O up inside this very tall tree.” “If you can answer my questions four With you then my darling Iʼll stay, If you can answer my questions four With you then, maybe Iʼll lay. What is brighter than the light? What is darker than the night? What is deeper than the sea? And what is higher than this very tall tree? And what is higher than this very tall tree?
He sang to me a joyful song Gave answers two by two Then above my lily white knee The handsome bird he flew. “Truth is brighter than the light, Falsehood darker than the night, Hell is deeper than the sea And heavenʼs higher than this very tall tree And heavenʼs higher than this very tall tree” Whilst the verse starts akin to a familiar British folk song, the chorus begins to imitate the actual song of the Songthrush, a bird that is notorious for singing in couplets. The lyrics play with the idea of the bird as a poet, who with his voice and words can seduce a lady and give the answer to her riddle, a common theme in folk stories where a bird and rosebush or bush image is used to symbolise sexual union.
Bring the Traveller to Land uses the common metaphor of the caged bird being set free from old ties. Oh my love May Great Bear guide you tonight. Let moon unloose Sun set free Light shine down bright. Bring the traveller to land. Oh my love May you soar up high in flight. Let cage doors unloose Bird set free With new found sight.
6. The Sirens Wave Nalle: The Sirens Wave CD/LP Full image 2008 This is an illustration for another Nalle album The Sirens Wave with seven siren-like creatures flying above a sea scene. In Greek mythology, Sirens were part woman, part bird, and lured nearby sailors with their enchanting voices to shipwreck. In the song The Secret of the Seven Sirens, we use an extract of the childrenʼs nursery rhyme about magpies. “One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret, never to be told” According to an old superstition, the number of magpies seen determines the course of bad or good luck. In the drawing I have combined the mythological siren with an image of a magpie to create my own mythical beings.
7. Swallow to the Sun The Family Elan: Bow Low Bright Glow CD/LP Back 2010
8. Black Sun Jo Mango: The Black Sun 2010 Taking direction from the lyrics of songs by The Family Elan and Jo Mango, both these illustrations use the symbol of the sun as a metaphor for freedom from words or direct knowledge. The birds are either flying towards or making the shape of the sun, flying free of the earthly realm to the light filled heavens.
9. Rubedo T-shirt 2010
10. Albedo T-shirt for the Wire 2010 In ancient alchemical writings, different birds (the Black Crow, White Swan, Peacock, Pelican and Phoenix) are used to symbolise the different stages of the alchemical process. Rubedo and Albedo are inspired by these processes, but from a psychological perspective. I won始t go into detail here, but perhaps the most important thing to say is that the birds in this instance can be understood as mediators between the physical and spiritual worlds, representing a human psyche that is undergoing development, encountering certain archetypal experiences through the alchemical process.
11. Two Swans 2008
12. Two Peacocks 2010 To end, these two drawings (both used are in essence symbols of love, the love between two birds or people.
2011 Hanna Tuulikki始s first love is to sing. Her second love is to draw. The Sussex born Anglo-Finn thus juggles her time as artist, illustrator and musician in Glasgow. www.hannatuulikki.com www.twowings.bandcamp.com www.myspace.com/nallemusic http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/hanna_tuulikki
by Cohen Ruhlmann from top to bottom: Robin Peacock Partridge Stork Crane
Alfred May (1862 - 1948), Tasmania Alfred May, otherwise known as Alf, who was the son of William May and lived most of his life on the property at Sandford to which he came with his family in 1874. The orchard on the property enjoyed a very good reputation, successfully exporting to London. Alf contributed to the hard work this entailed. He still found time to devote himself to other pursuits and discovered a very real artistic talent as can be seen in the examples of his bird paintings.
John James Audubon
Thomas Brown
Alexander Wilson
George Edwards
John Gould
Archibald Thorburn
a further gathering of wings
published by engraved glass / jrf *
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