MURMURATIONS

Singer calls these sculptures “Murmurations”. The etymology of Murmuration stems from “murmur”, originating from the sanskrit “marmara”- a term describing the sound of wind rustling through the leaves of trees, or the sound of water flowing. The term Mumuration itself describes the phenomenon of emergent behaviour in birds. When they flock together performing a kind of sky ballet, the locus of control is miraculously distributed throughout the group. This kind of behaviour appears in schools of fish, humans running in crowds, neural networks and clusters of stars. In this way Singer sees the Murmurations as a life affirming celebration our collective humanity. The stainless steel rods used for these works are industrially produced for the purpose of fencing. Here a paradox is created, between a bird and a fence. A dialogue between freedom and security, an interchange of migration and captivity. 

This is a paradox of moving and not moving. A paradox of what is mine and what is yours; of where I end and you begin, of birth and death, starting and finishing, creating and destroying, The decimeter between order and chaos. One is shifted to become many. Many are shifted to become one Something. And then nothing. The slippery edge of what is and what isn’t. These questions are important because they show how collective or individual identities are also metaphysical.