Geo Quiz

Birds rock

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An art museum figures in today’s Geo Quiz. It’s not the Hermitage, the Louvre, or the Met. But its one of Europe’s largest performance art museums, home to an eclectic mix of music, theatre, and dance events.

For example: The London Symphony Orchestra performs Sibelius and Haydn symphonies here in coming weeks. The new 3D version of Alice in Wonderland arrives next week for screening. And there are edgy dance and experimental theatre performances going on.

We’ll hear more about a wild and some say wacky exhibit in today’s global hit. For now try and name this art refuge that’s just a short walk from London’s Liverpool Street rail station.

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s sound installation at the Barbican

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Finally today, we return to London and the answer to our Geo Quiz. The performace art space we asked you to name is the Barbican Center.

There’s usually something for everyone there: visual art, music, theatre and dance. What caught our ear today is the latest exhibit by French musician and artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot.

Imagine a small flock of zebra finches flying around, flashing their bright red beaks, and chattering away. Now add a little bird seed, some electric guitars and amplifers. As the finches flutter around and perch on the guitar strings — they create music.

“I tried to organize the contrast between the little finches and the big heavy metal sound”

Boursier-Mougenot didn’t just use guitars. He also placed cymbals in the exhibit, turned upside down and filled with bird seed. A YouTube video of the bird’s haphazard music is making the rounds.

It’s already inspired a copycat to coat his own electric guitar with bird seed and hang it like a backyard feeder. The video even shows one finch wielding a twig like a guitar pick

But is it music? Or art?
Well — Barbican curator Lydia Yee says call it anything you like. Just don’t forget to have a little fun with it.

“It is I think a bit of a parody of the rock guitarist rather than having a very macho guy wielding a les paul we have delicate little finches landing on them and producing as big a sound as any of them could make.”

The artist, Celeste Boursier-Mougenot has a reputation for pushing the limits of art. He has — for instance — explored the space between noise and music by hooking up vacuum cleaners to harmonicas. And he says people’s appreciation of art and music changes over time.

“When I was 20, people said this is not music this is noise, and now they say this is music definitely so we’ll see. I think the worse way to go is to restrict what is music or not… history will show what is music.

Celeste Boursier-Mougenot’s musical finches exhibit continues at The Curve at London’s Barbican Center until May. He’s already planning his next creation.

It involves 300 goldfish and an underwater videocam — But that’s another story.