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Birds

Feature image of artwork
Feature image of artwork
Feature image of artwork
Feature image of artwork
Feature image of artwork

Birds

  • Artist

    Charlie Sofo

  • Production Date

    2008

  • Medium

    single channel video, standard definition (SD), 4:3, colour, stereo sound

  • Size

    1min 29sec

  • Credit

    Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2010

  • Accession Number

    C2010/1/22

  • Accession Date

    24 Aug 2010

  • Department

    International Art

  • Classification

    Audiovisual

  • Collection

    Chartwell

  • Chartwell Notes

     

    Charlie Sofo’s works often arise from wandering through neighbourhood streets. Stepping out from his studio, on either casual or more pre-planned walks, he observes and collects life’s incidental details. Coloured dots appear hovering above the heads of the birds in Birds (2008), an early video work that connects with the idea of notation, specifically of the musical kind.

     

    Structured as an animated sequence of photographs, the video shows a series of birds sitting on power lines—a sight familiar to any wanderer. The dots mark each bird’s position on the wire. By transposing this configuration to an arrangement of notes on a music stave, Sofo creates a simple piano composition, which becomes the video’s quirky soundtrack.

Exhibition history