Watch 70 tiny birds play tiny guitar solos

by Richard Howard

November 25, 2015

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The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts hosts an exhibit of zebra finches shredding on electric guitar.

If there’s one thing I wake up every morning lamenting, it’s the lack of animals playing musical instruments. After Keyboard Cat [and Keyboard Otters – Ed.], I figured the floodgates had been opened but for once, the internet let me down and failed to beat an idea to death by forcing every conceivable version of it on us until we all went cross eyed.

As it turns out, animal music performance may simply be a higher form of art that needs a suitably frou-frou showcase. Thankfully, French visual artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot has picked up the baton. After installations in New York, Paris, and Milan, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will host the Canadian debut of his signature living art piece: 70 tiny birds shredding on a collection of Gibson guitars.

Boursier-Mougenot explained that the idea came from a regular childhood sight – birds sitting on a wire outside of his window. The music made isn’t as a result of training or manipulation but rather simple logic: besides nests, the guitars are the only perches available to the zebra finches. Their love of high vantage points ensures that they’ll continually be interacting with the instruments. Visitors will be allowed to walk through the aviary in small groups and experience the music being made. They can also play guitars of their through amps placed throughout the room – music which often intensifies as the birds react to their presence.

As a lover of non-human instrument playing, I fully support Boursier-Mougenot’s wacky art piece. My one criticism: somebody dropped the ball on the guitar colour choices. While I’m all for contrast, the white Les Pauls were definitely a much wiser choice than the black Thunderbirds. Cuz you know, bird poop. I’m predicting some unintentionally polka-dotted basses.

Tags: Music, News, WTF, art, birds, guitars

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