From Februaru 2022-February 2023, the first act in my day was to step outside my front door with the Merlin App, a bird identification application created by the Cornell Lab for Ornithology. Merlin uses AI to identify birds within the hearing range of my phone. Typically, Merlin’s ability to hear outpaced my own; I listened alongside the app for sixty seconds, yet typically saw or heard only some of the birds that Merlin was able to identify. In my sketchbook I kept a written record of each species identified. This data was used to create an abstracted visual representation, a master key where each species is represented by a watercolor sphere, sized and rendered to be species specific. Each week culminates in a completed sound drawing, a visual record of the unseen: The birds that Merlin heard during the week, arranged by date and time.
Week of April 15th
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
The Merlin Project-Installation shot
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
variable
The Birds Merlin Heard- Master Key
2022-23
Watercolor and Ink
20x48" overall
The Birds Merlin Heard- Detail
2022
Watercolor and Ink
Week of April 22nd
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of February 3rd
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of November 4th
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of October 22nd
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of November 25th
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of November 11th
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of November 18th
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Week of December 2nd
2022
watercolor and graphite on Arches 300lb rough paper
22x30"
Research, Species List
2022