The premise is simple: a group of people meet in a park. Together they watch for birds. When they see a bird they recognise they say it by its name. When they see a bird they don’t recognise the say bird. The minute is taped and participants can listen to the recording online.
Described as a ‘short noisy event’ One Minute Birdwatching is an attempt by Holly Rumble to survey the bird population of Edinburgh while creating ‘time-specific soundtracks to the space’. Whilst not knowingly performing the birds provide one of the most eventful performances you will find at the Fringe. The audience also are implicit in the event. The beauty of this performance lies in the fact there are so many variables - the number of birds, the observation skills of the audience and the ability to name the birds will differ each time.
Performance art can often be alienating for people who have no knowledge of the genre, criticism might be levelled that this wasn’t art- rather a minute of bird watching. It was more than this, though. It was a curated event which allowed an audience to join together for a minute in an action whilst also creating a sound work of that minute from 9.30 – 9.31 and it was far from alienating.
There was something genuinely exciting about being part of a group of strangers documenting the birds in the park. We had a job to do and we took it seriously – from the start of the minute to the end we were intent on naming the birds we saw. Given permission to take a minute to look at our surroundings we revelled in the luxury of this.
One Minute Birdwatching eloquently and simply shows the power of art to reflect on and react to the world around us. In a world of economic crises, arts cuts and climate change One Minute Birdwatching is political in more ways than one.
