For this work, sometimes referred to as “Patriarchal Rollcall”, Louise Lawler sounded out the familiar names of male artists dominating the art world in the 1970s using the chirps and peeps of birdcalls - activating the artistic tradition of mimesis but with a twist. The humor of the work is tinged with urgency as it attests to how the constant repetition of these names operates to block the voices of women artists, artists of color and other underrepresented persons. Installing Birdcalls also calls attention to the importance of sound and animal studies to current discourses on aesthetics and hence to the environmental conditions undergirding the making and showing of art today. Click here to hear the work.
Installed at the SoA October 3, 2023 - January 12, 2024
Roundtable Tuesday, October 3, 5pm, N107, followed by a reception at 6:30pm
Audio recording and text, 7:01 LeWitt Collection, Chester, CT
Curated by Sylvia Lavin, Professor, History and Theory of Architecture
