In the early decades of the 17th century Flemish artists popularised the Concerts of Birds genre. The paintings included images of different kinds of birds perched on trees, sometimes with musical scores. And sometimes the score is held by an owl like a central maestro conducting the concert as in this painting.

There are many different interpretations and symbolic meanings attached to the genre including a sense of order and balance within nature which extended to a sense of social order.

To achieve this balance of singing creatures has taken a surprisingly long time given each creature has been photographed individually in its own moment of vocalising. Bringing them together balancing the formal aspects of scale and colour has been a long and challenging project brought together by the musical notes being held by the owl (the only non-singer). The sheet music is “Sing” written by Fans Healy of the band Travis in 1999.

Healy said, “I love the idea of having the word “sing” repeated in the chorus of a song - it’s just so silly” and he elaborated that the emotional weight of the song originates from the belief that "feeling free enough to cut loose and sing in front of someone you love is an indication of extraordinary intimacy and trust.”

The sense of silliness balanced with the depth of feeling is something I like to explore in my own work. The layering that allows for different ways of looking at the same thing both humorously and seriously. The lightness of being balanced with the things that tether us to the ground.

Interestingly the song on the B side of the single is “We are Monkeys” with the chorus, “You’re a fool to believe any more. So believe you’re a monkey”. So perhaps we should take Fran Healy’s advise and “go climb up a tree’ pretend we’re monkeys and sing out loud and create our own bucolic concert just for fun. – Kate Bergin