Video by Jose Lozano
GRACKLE CALL
2018
Premiered at the Fusebox Festival
Multimedia walk with performances, installations, and radio stories
The Grackle is perhaps the most controversial and beloved bird of Austin. By morning, they greedily eye our breakfast tacos; they hold court on telephone wires at midday, and they flock to the trees of the local H-E-B at sunset to commence their cacophony. Grackles are an idiosyncratic part of daily life in the city. The Grackle species, whose history dates back to the Aztec empire, is a kind of clock, telling the rhythms of our city, but also evoking a rich past that predates Austin. This strange and beautiful bird is the subject of Steve Parker’s new project Grackle Call, an immersive sound walk and ode to the bird. Audience members will be guided on a walking adventure, where they’ll discover the natural life of the city through dance, installation, poetry, and sound, and find themselves on Grackle time. (From Fusebox)
This project was augmented by a series of free community workshops that explore birding, listening, and writing & a free iOS app that responds to the user’s GPS coordinates to play original audio content directing them to locations throughout Austin.
Creative Team: Steve Parker, Yuliya Lanina, Austin Soundwaves, Martín Rodriguez, Allison Orr, Mose Buchele, Alex Keller, Heloise Gold, Verena Gaudy, James Brush, Martin Byhower, Luke Quinton, Vladimir Rannev, Cecily Parks, Sarah Brown, Doug Laustsen, Hector Benitez, Derek Cabrera, Juan De La Rosa, Chris Demetriou, Laura Dykes, Miranda Gibble, Anthony Perez, Tyree Kirksey, Seetha Shivaswamy, and Tim Shuster, with special thanks to Jordan Price.
This project was supported in part by the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division, the Mid America Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission for the Arts, the Texas Music Office, and New Music USA.
Download the Grackle Zine
