Forgotten Songs is a public artwork by Michael Thomas Hill located in Angel Place, Sydney. The installation was part of the 2009 Sydney Laneway Temporary art scheme, afterwards, due to the popularity of the installation, in 2011, the project was turned into a part of the 9 million dollar permanent laneway installations. The Laneway temporary art program ran between 2008 and 2013 with the main goal of laneways activation, innovation stimulation in the city and, in general, injecting new energy into the urban life. The program consisted of two stages. Forgotten Songs artwork was a part of the second Laneways program titled By George! Hidden Networks. The principal aim was to address two key issues of urban renewal in city's lanes and climate change. Other than Forgotten Songs installation, seven other artworks participated in this stage.
Artwork concept
The artwork concept could be comprehended by the artist's words: "The installation explores how Sydney’s fauna has evolved and adapted to co-exist with increased urbanisation – inviting contemplation of the city’s past, its underlying landscape, and the sustainability issues associated with increased urban development."
Title
As a result, the artwork's title was selected to celebrate those birds which were living in central Sydney "before they were gradually forced out of the city by European settlement". The artist's intention was to return the birds' sounds to the city and make them an important part of city life.
Installation
Birdcages
The artist has used 120 suspended bird cages in the laneway above the Angel Place accompanied by the sound recordings of extinct or threatened bird species of the central Sydney.
Bird songs
Recordings are played of the songs of fifty bird species which used to live in the central Sydney area on two audio tracks - day birds and night birds - with "a calendared sequence of triggers that progressively allows for longer days in summer and longer nights in winter". Some of these birds songs can still be heard on the city margins but not in central Sydney. Based on investigations of doctor Richard Major in regards to the city soil types and examining Australian Museum collection of bird skins, a list of 50 species of both diurnal and nocturnal birds was provided. Consequently, the sound files of those 50 species were gathered by the wildlife recordist, Fred van Gessel.
Practical development of the project
In terms of the practical aspect of the project, about 120 birdcages sources from various places, from eBay to second-hand stores. And the artist claims that in order to get all those birdcages, his mother, sister and his relatives have been involved in collecting and picking those cages. Sound installations have been done by putting all-weather speakers in some of the birdcages, which they continually play birdsongs.
Birds species
In addition to hearing the fifty birds' songs as you walk on the Angel Place, names of these fifty bird species can be read as well, since they have been installed into the ground as the part of the installation. The following list represents the bird species which sang in central Sydney. Some of these songs still can be heard in city margins, if these birds can find food to survive.
Based on the bird species, some of them used to sing during the daytime, while some others during the nighttime. Therefore, song recordings change from day to night. At night, Powerful owl, Southern boobook, Tawny frogmouth, Barn owl, Owlet-nightjar and White-throated nightjar songs might be heard.
Design team
Forgotten Songs was the outcome of an interdisciplinary project, including Michael Thomas Hill as the artist, Dr Richard Major as the senior research scientist, Fred Van Gessel as the wildlife recordist, Lightwell as the audio system designer and programmer, Freeman Ryan Design as Graphic Design office and Aspect Studio as Landscape Architecture company. all those groups and individuals have been involved in delivering this artwork installation.
