Pribek

“The Old Guitarist”
Pablo Picasso
1903, during his blue period.

“Man with Guitar”
Pablo Picasso
1911, when he was in to cubism.

I am fascinated by the music of nature. When I meditate, I like to open all the windows and dig on the poly-rhythms of the bugs, melodies of the birds and how it all shifts with the wind.

So, I had to take a look when I saw this piece at we make money not art about a designer who is incorporating the acoustics of nature…

Acoustic Botany, by David Benqué, extracts Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering from the usual context of health care, food and environment and examines instead the role they could play in the sphere of culture and entertainment.

“Acoustic Botany”, I like the sound of that. Here’s an example of what Benqué is doing.

Popping Pod Fruit

The Popping Pod Fruit is made from little capsules which fill with air and bacteria as they mature. When ready, the seed is dispersed by the explosion of the capsule. The popping season could be a carefully orchestrated over 2 months with periods of activity more intense than others.

Benqué is currently working on some larger scale exhibitions that will delve in to some pretty interesting turf musically.

The designer imagines that the soundtrack would be more composed and harmonic than the nature sounds we know, but it wouldn’t be as controlled as ‘music’ either because of the unknown factors that plant growth almost inevitably brings.

In Muskogee, Oklahoma. From the Muskogee Phoenix…

Muskogee is home to a number of 8-foot fiberglass guitars painted in widely varying styles.

The only theme is each in some way reflects life in the community. The pieces were created as part of a public art undertaking, the Muskogee Guitar Project…

…The guitars pop up in odd places around town, from front lawns of homes, to churches, schools, banks and public parks. The Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce even offers a scavenger hunt “guitar map” available at the Muskogee Tourist Information Center.

Click on the link to see a cool slide show of the various pieces.