The Great Animal Orchestra Arrives at PEM
The Peabody Essex Museum and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain have co-produced the North American premiere of The Great Animal Orchestra, an audio-visual celebration of the planet’s rich biodiversity.
Over the course of nearly fifty years, Bernie Krause collected more than 5,000 hours of recordings of natural environments, including at least 15,000 terrestrial and marine species from around the world.
Trained as a musician, Krause found animal vocalizations in the natural world to be akin to musical harmony and orchestral organization. Krause’s soundscapes reveal that within any ecosystem, each species has its own acoustic niche and human activities are increasingly silencing these great animal orchestras. United Visual Artists (UVA) worked with Krause to visualize these recordings as animated spectrograms, which immerse us in the heart of these wild soundscapes. This unique installation also stands as a plea for preserving the wondrous diversity of the animal world.
The Great Animal Orchestra, a collaboration between Bernie Krause and United Visual Artists, was commissioned in 2016 by the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, and is now part of its permanent collection.
Peabody Essex Museum Director Lynda Roscoe Hartigan introduces the impresario of The Great Animal Orchestra, Dr. Bernie Krause, whose 50 years of animal recordings are now assembled into a sophisticated yet poignant installation.
(top left) COSMOS Science Editor Paul Erickson (right) chats with Bernie Krause and colleague, and sets up an interview for a COSMOS feature on this spectacular auditory installation. Paul's long career producing science features at the New England Aquarium often included visual and audio narratives.
(above right) A Press Preview for a major museum opening is always a good reason to bring out one's sartorial best. Especially when the figureheads on the wall are setting a dressy standard!
(above left) Paul Erickson, Bernie Krause, and Chris Munkholm conspiring on a future COSMOS feature.
The Great Animal Orchestra is a multimedia installation, running for 98 minutes, and comprising dedicated audio compilations from different regional locales. The visitor can participate at will in this singular, reverential immersion into the sounds of nature.
© Bernie Krause © United Visual Artists. Photo: © Luc Boegly.
