The genesis of creative ideas often lies in moments of delightful misunderstanding. These instances of confusion unlock a realm of expansive thinking, where unconventional concepts take flight. It’s in these initially perplexing moments that truly original ideas can be born, only to be later refined and understood within a clearer context. The “Natural Car Alarms” project perfectly embodies this process, transforming an auditory illusion into a thought-provoking sound art installation.
During an artist residency in Trinidad, the artist Nina Katchadourian found herself in Grande Riviere, a tranquil coastal village renowned for its nesting leatherback turtles and vibrant wildlife. Exploring the dense rainforest with a guide, she was enveloped by the sounds of nature. It was then, amidst the unfamiliar calls of exotic birds, that a strikingly familiar sound pierced through the natural soundscape: a car alarm. For a disorienting moment, the urban sound seemed utterly out of place, yet undeniably present. However, reality soon recalibrated, revealing the source to be a bird, its call uncannily mimicking the harsh tones of a car alarm. This auditory mirage, this blurring of natural and artificial sounds, sparked the inspiration for “Natural Car Alarms.”
This intriguing experience culminated in “Natural Car Alarms,” an art installation featuring three cars, each equipped with a unique alarm system. These weren’t ordinary alarms; instead, they were sonic compositions built from bird calls, ingeniously modeled after the ubiquitous six-tone car alarm siren prevalent in urban environments like New York City. To realize this unique concept, Katchadourian collaborated with the Macauley Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. By providing a recording of a typical car alarm, she enlisted their expertise to identify bird calls that could convincingly replicate its jarring sound. The library’s extensive archive of animal sounds became a rich resource, providing a diverse palette of avian vocalizations.
Selecting the right bird calls was a meticulous process. The goal was to strike a balance between sounds that were startlingly alarm-like and recognizably avian. Crucially, the chosen calls needed to mimic the rhythmic pattern of a conventional car alarm – the sweeping rises and falls, the punctuated bursts of sound. The intention was not to soften or beautify the alarm sound, but rather to transpose its inherent qualities of loudness, intrusiveness, obnoxiousness, and surprise into a natural idiom. Ultimately, Katchadourian aimed to recreate the initial ambiguity experienced in the rainforest, where the lines between the urban and the natural audioscapes became unexpectedly blurred. The resulting “Natural Car Alarms” challenge our perception of familiar sounds and encourage us to reconsider the soundscape that surrounds us.
Alarm 1
Alarm 2
Alarm 3
All alarms at once
Click here to watch the video.
All Things Considered (you can hear the alarms here too)
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