Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - For the Birds: The Birdsong Project is a sweeping collection of 242 recordings by leading artists inspired by birdsong that has been prominently featured by the NY Times, The Guardian, NPR Music, Rolling Stone, and CBS Sunday Morning. It was released digitally over the course of five volumes, from May to September 2022 - listen to the full collection HERE. Co-created by Grammy Award-winning music supervisor Randall Poster and Executive Producer Rebecca Reagan, it was released as an art-filled, 20-LP box set featuring Yoko Ono, Elvis Costello, Laurie Anderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Beck, Karen O, Tilda Swinton, Robert Pattinson, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig and many more to benefit the National Audubon Society. For the Birds: The Birdsong Project has been dedicated to protecting birdlife representing cultures from 31 countries, from small towns in Northwest Africa to the rural countryside of Ireland and bustling cities like Paris, Tokyo, and New York.
The next step with The Birdsong Project is to establish The Birdsong Society, a new collective of Artists, Environmentalists, and Innovators building a culturally diverse community of collaborators supporting and celebrating birds. The Birdsong Society aspires to be a global community that explores the depths of birdsong through art. At the heart of the Society’s mission is the belief that birdsong is not only a powerful force for positive change but also has the potential to inspire people to live more sustainably and with greater appreciation For The Birds.
The Birdsong Society is committed to creating programming, including educational discussions, panels with global experts, guided meditation series (with For the Birds: The Birdsong Project co-founder Rebecca Reagan), curated collections of Birdsong-inspired films; brand and artist partnerships; and much more.
Today, The Birdsong Society has released a new music video from Karen Elson, a longtime collaborator of Poster. The video is the first of many that will live on YouTube, and artists can contribute their work on a rolling basis. Renowned director Brennan Stasiewicz directed the piece.
“I want this video for “Fly On” to give people a chance to re-experience, in a genuine way, the power of learning how to love unconditionally,” says Stasiewicz. “ It’s easy to forget that releasing into the love of another doesn’t have to be romantic. It can be platonic, and as youth emerges into maturity, that kind of love is movingly beautiful. These are kids who define and share with each other their own small joys and pains in life. It’s in the sharing, that flying together, that I find inspiration in Karen Elson’s song.”
Watch “Fly On” by Karen Elson - https://youtu.be/E2iN7rf2DOk
In celebration of the announcement today, Eggpicnic, the Canberra-based design studio devoted to wildlife conservation, is taking over The Birdsong Project IG Stories. View HERE.
Looking forward, there will also be a limited edition box set of 20 bird-themed prints curated by Fairey and Randall Poster, arriving later this year. This is the second partnership between Shepard Fairey’s Obey Giant and The Birdsong Project, with the first collaboration consisting of a limited-edition Fairey print that sold out within minutes. All proceeds from sales of the print, like the birdsong box set, benefit the National Audubon Society.
Additional content will include music videos, meditations, and more from Max Joseph, David Orr, Spring Summer, The Birdsong Project’s Executive Producer Rebecca Reagan, and other members of this burgeoning creative community.
Last month, The Birdsong Project collaborated with The Brackenridge Park Conservancy in San Antonio, TX, on an exhibit that included 10 birdhouses, all designed by architects, on display at the McNay Museum. More info HERE. They also partnered with Evoke London for an exhibition of bird-themed objects from India and Africa and sculptures from the UK, which opened on May 4.
Recently, The Birdsong Project did a unique collaboration with the Outsider Art Fair, a fair dedicated to self-taught art, art brut, and outsider art. Poster and Outsider Art Fair owner Andrew Edlin co-curated an exhibition, We Are Birds, featuring dozens of works inspired by birdlife.
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