June 19-October 16
during Lincoln Park Conservatory open hours; play at top of every hour
Lincoln Park Conservatory Fern Room
2391 N Stockton Dr, Chicago
FREE & open to the public
RESERVATION REQUIRED
Florasonic returns! Since 2001 ESS has commissioned artists every year to create new multichannel sound installations for the Lincoln Park Conservatory Fern Room. After a brief interruption during the pandemic, Florasonic is back with new work by Chicago artist and musician Kikù Hibino. Additionally, Kikù will perform a closing concert featuring Alex Inglizian on Sunday, October 16.
Artist Statement (English)
I have many memories associated with the fern leaf. My grandparents used to live in an old Japanese-style house with a small interior courtyard and a tea room. Both rooms were my grandfather’s favorite.
The tall cedar and pine trees hid us from the sunlight and the city noise. Moss covered the tree roots and the stones in the garden as ferns grew from the ground. There was an old well with fresh spring water, and I remember the peaceful cry of the Japanese bush warbler bird. It’s as if time had stopped in the gentle quietness. As a young boy, this silent tension used to make me feel uncomfortable and nervous.
I have a memory before I had even turned 10 years old. My grandfather had called me into the dining room. There was a birdcage made of iron and inside was a young little brown-eared bulbul bird laying on a towel for a bed looking towards me. My grandfather told me he had found it underneath a fern leaf in the courtyard. The young chick called from below him, and with the ground covered in ferns, it was hard to find the bird at first. It took some difficulty to find but he suspected the bird had fallen from a nest on the top of the trees. The fern and moss must’ve acted as the cushion.
We ignored our family members telling us the youngling would die after its fall, and soon enough the chick began growing bigger and bigger in its birdcage until one day, we let the bird free in our courtyard. That bird, without hesitation to give us a glimpse back, flew with great force up high towards the city. This burst of animal instinct had made us laugh. For a while after that, every time we saw a brown-eared bulbul, my grandfather and I would share a small smiling moment together.
Florasonic would be my first sound installation. I would’ve loved to show this to my grandparents and my mother. Although they are gone now, the children of that fern leaf that saved that bird that day must still be growing in the same spot. I’m certain of it. I wonder if the moss and ferns of that beautiful garden still rescue young chicks from falling off their nests.
There’s a saying that plants are much more clever than people. Maybe this smart and kind fern, even separated by time or place, has pieced back the memories of my family into this botanical garden. With those thoughts in mind, I, with gratitude for the ferns and for the people that love this Fern Room, have made this music.
Artist Statement (Japanese)
シダの葉には思い出がある。私の祖父母は古い日本家屋に住んでいた。小さな中庭と茶室があり、祖父はそれらをとても大切にしていた。
背の高い杉や松が太陽と町の音を遮り、庭石や木の根本はコケに覆われていた。地面にはたくさんのシダが生えていた。古い井戸と湧き水があり、鶯が美しく鳴いていたのをよく覚えている。静寂さの中で、時間が静止していた。そこは別世界で、幼かった私にとって、それは少し恐怖ですらあった。
私がまだ１０歳にもならない時だったと記憶している。祖父から呼ばれて食堂へ行くと、そこには古い鉄製の鳥かごがおいてあり、中にはヒヨドリのヒナがタオルであつらえたベッドの上でこちらを向いていた。祖父はそれを中庭のシダの葉っぱの下で見つけたという。ヒナの声が地面から聞こえてくるが、シダの葉で覆われているためにどこに鳥がいるのかわからない。探すのに大変苦労した、多分木の上の巣から落ちたんだろう。シダとコケがクッションになって助かったに違いない。
すぐに死んでしまうよ、という家人の言葉にもかかわらず、私たちのヒナは鳥かごの中みるみる大きくなった。そしてある日、私たちはそれを中庭に放した。ヒヨドリはこちらを見向きもせずに中庭からすごい勢いで町へ飛び立っていった。あまりの自由な野生動物の振る舞いに、私たちは笑ってしまった。それからしばらくの間、ヒヨドリを見るたびに私たちはなんとなくお互いに顔を見合わせてわらうようになった。
Florasonicは僕の初めてのサウンドインスタレーションで、できれば祖父母、そして母にも聞かせたかった。彼らはもういないが、あのヒヨドリを救ったシダの子孫は、今でも同じ場所に生えているに違いない。シダとコケはまだあの美しい庭で時々巣から落ちてしまうヒナのクッションになって鳥を救っているのだろうか。
植物は私たちよりも賢いという。頭がよく優しいシダが時間も空間も離れた古く彷徨う僕たちの家族の思い出を、独特の方法でこの植物園を通してつなげてくれているのだとしたら。そんなことを考えながら、私は個人的な感謝の気持ちでFernのために、そしてこの美しいFern Room を愛する人たちのために、音楽を作った。
About Kikù Hibino
Japanese-born sound artist Kikù Hibino produces electronic music that focuses on unusual rhythmic structure and melodies that are inspired by optical illusion and moiré patterns.
From chamber music for media productions to digital micro sound for art installations, he has collaborated internationally with a wide variety of artists and scholars, including Yuge Zhou, Mitsu Salmon, Kawaguchi Takao (Dumb Type), Theaster Gates, Mike Weis (Zelienople) and Norma Field.
His work has been shown Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago Cultural Center, Three Walls, Compound Yellow, Elastic Arts, Hairpin Arts Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, among others. He’s a 2017 Individual Artist Grant recipient from Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, 2021 Outer Ear Artist in Residency at Experimental Sound Studio, and 2021 nominee for Best Asian Entertainer at Chicago Music Awards. Kikù lives and works in Chicago.
The publication, The Wire (U.K.) once described his music as "trying to cram in as many memories as possible before it all disappears" and that the music "concerns itself with themes of capturing and preserving fleeting moments" (2007, issue 279).
He studied electronic music composition at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus with Toru Iwatake, Atau Tanaka, and Christopher Penrose, and at University of California at Santa Barbara with Curtis Roads and Karen Tanaka, and holds M.A. in media art and technology.
In 2021, Kikù and his creative partner Gregory Bae launched S/N, an electronic music concert series. Instagram
