back to artists

Marcus Coates

Marcus Coates came to Allenheads to produce new work in the environment of the high fells. However, government restrictions on movement on public land due to Foot and Mouth led Coates to work with people in their homes and gardens.

Coates created Local Birds a video work exploring parallels between the song of native birds and human communication, literally enabling members of the community to sing like a bird.

The production process used pre-recorded birdsong which was digitally manipulated
so that its pitch corresponded with the human voice. The altered (slowed down)
birdsong recordings were then mimicked (sung) by performers and filmed. The video
recording of the human version was speeded up to the original bird pitch creating
accurate replicas of a birdsong by human voice.