IMAGE: Lucky Dragons, 17,000 Observations, 2014. Performance documentation, The Contemporary Austin – Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria, Austin, Texas, 2014. © and courtesy the artists. Photograph by Brian Fitzsimmons.
The Contemporary Presents
Lucky Dragons: 17,000 Observations
November 9, 2014 – May 31, 2015
On View at the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria
Los Angeles–based collaborative artists Lucky Dragons (Sarah Rara and Luke Fischbeck) present a new, site-specific artwork directly informed by the biological diversity of Laguna Gloria and the patterns of attention—both human and environmental—that this diversity gives rise to.
17,000 Observations comprises a musical composition and temporary sculptural installation. A one-time musical performance—in which a small instrumental ensemble performed the composition—is accompanied by an environmental recording, which can be accessed by visitors to the floodplain forest site and as a video installation on the facade of The Contemporary Austin’s downtown Jones Center building after dark. The sculpture, a mobile composed of circular mirrors, complements these elements: suspended between trees across a footpath, the mirrors reflect the forest in unpredictable ways as they rotate freely, aiding and complicating each viewer’s line of sight. Field recordings made at Laguna Gloria over a 24-hour period, in which the songs and calls of numerous bird species are heard in order, form the basis of the musical composition, overlapping, modulating, and giving way.
17,000 Observations is an attempt to respond to and reinforce the sequences and transitions that define a natural site such as Laguna Gloria, as well as to celebrate the accumulated observations that have already taken place.
"…Laguna Gloria has one of the most active birding communities and one of the highest levels of species diversity in Travis County. Birders have submitted over 17,000 observations of birds in the Laguna Gloria and Mayfield Park area. 16,443 of those observations were at Laguna Gloria. Each observation represents the sighting of a particular species at a particular place and time."
—Laguna Gloria: Site Assessment and Natural Areas Guidelines, Siglo Group, June 2013
A one-time performance took place Sunday, November 9, 2014, at 2P. Following this event, visitors to Laguna Gloria will be able to access a field recording of the performance and view the sculptural installation and video projection through May 31, 2015. This exhibition is curated by Andrea Mellard, Director of Public Programs & Community Engagement.
Gallery
Lucky Dragons: 17,000 Observations
Filmed November 9, 2014, during a one-time performance at the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria.
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Lucky Dragons: 17,000 Observations
17,000 Observations is a new musical composition and temporary sculptural and sound installation developed for Laguna Gloria’s floodplain forest site by Los Angeles–based collaborative artist duo Lucky Dragons.