When the pandemic arrived two years ago, the silence was deafening for Kathryn Calder.
The musician is used to hearing noises at all hours of the day around her Saanich Peninsula home, be it from the nearby Victoria International Airport or the distant drone of traffic from the Malahat. With a young child, and a home studio in the basement, quietude is a luxury on most days, Calder said.
“In the spring of 2020, when all the planes stopped, and all the cars stopped and everybody was at home, I remember being out here on the peninsula thinking, ‘Holy smokes, this is so quiet.’ I could hear all the birds.”
Soon after, Calder got to work on a multi-format idea which gave a home to the new sounds she was hearing around her neighbourhood. Patched In is the result, and brings to a close her two-year term as the City of Victoria’s artist in residence. The public art, light, and sound installation is now on display in Lee Mong Kow Way, an alley near 631 Fisgard St.
The project combines real-life bird sounds she recorded near her home with approximations of bird sounds and melodies she made on piano and synthesizer and with her voice. The audio, which is played through speakers housed inside custom boxes, is accompanied by a brightly-coloured mural and 40 birdhouses painted by students from the nearby Victoria Chinese Public School.
Calder was joined by several key collaborators on the project (Meghan Hildebrand designed the mural, while Jesse Campbell installed it), which gives the piece an all-encompassing, patchwork feel. The sounds and imagery are meant to bring some serenity back to the downtown core, now that car and foot traffic have returned to their previous levels, according to Calder.
“Looking at the birdhouses and the colourful wall, and hearing the music, I would love it to be an immersive experience that makes somebody feel good when they are in the space. It’s a little bit of a reminder that nature is not always outside of the city, it’s everywhere.”
Calder researched the bird sounds she captured on her handheld recording device and wrote original music as accompaniment. Out of respect for nearby residents, the soundscape is only played at the installation from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. on weekends. The Juno-nominated member of the New Pornographers has made the recording available for streaming through her Bandcamp page, however, which gives those who choose to use headphones while on site a full audio-visual experience.
“It’s an impressionistic interpretation of birdsongs,” Calder said of the audio aspect of the project, which was brought to life with help from computer programmers Andrew Schloss and Duncan MacConnell, and musicians Marek Tyler and Eddie Mau.
“The sounds pan from one side of the alley to the other and back again, to mimic movement. The timing truly is random, because I wanted it to feel natural and as non-computerish as possible.”
To stream the music for Patched In, visit kathryncalder.bandcamp.com/track/birds.
