Listening to R.E.M. and reading about the inspiration behind Liberty of London’s new collection of fabrics entitled “The Flower Show.” Yeah, I’m an unrepentant flower dork who can’t wait for gardening season to return, can’t lie.~AR
(Source: Spotify)
I’m always happy to share botany-inspired musicians with you. Last time it was black metal artist Botanist. This time, I’m going a little girlier and introducing you to Rose & the Nightingale. Made up of four women who play many instruments, Rose & the Nightingale’s latest album “The Spirit of the Garden” was inspired by botanical gardens across the country. Take a listen, and if the spirit moves you, see them on Tuesday, January 15 at Culture Project in Manhattan. Doors at 7 p.m.
The next time you’re walking through the Forest enjoying the symphony being trilled from the trees, remember this: The birds are having an emotional response, too! According to a new study, birds respond to the songs of their fellows in much the same way we respond to Beethoven’s “Pastoral” or the theme song the “Twilight Zone.” So much for bird brains … ~AR
(via Birds Found to Have Emotional Reactions to Song - NYTimes.com)
Oh for realz guys! How bad is it that I never noticed the flowers in the margin of the album cover for Purple Rain? I’m going to go with the “I’m old and I owned this as a cassette I copied off of my friend” defense. And check it out, the motif even carried over to the (purple, naturally) vinyl version of the album, too. So let’s see … what flowers do I spy? I see poppies (California, oriental, Flanders, and possibly Icelandic), tulips, cosmos, chrysanthemums, roses, and so much more. Oh Prince … I can’t think of a better excuse to queue up some of his greatest hits on Spotify right now, can you? ~AR
Flowers & leaves imagery used in the borders of Prince and The Revolution’s album Purple Rain.
(Source: gaelicintheraw)
Gardening makes very few cameos in music videos. The presence of petunias and marigolds is just one reason to really enjoy this groovy little dance jam that has made me miss summer already. I’m bookmarking this one for next year’s gardening mix, for sure. ~AR
Our friends James & Evander recently released a new video for their track “Ambigamy” off their Bummer Pop LP. Gardening and Laser Guns? Count me in! You can still grab a copy of the excellent Let’s Go b/w Welcome to Planet Dance 7”, which is limited to only 250 copies. There’s only a large handful left of these beauties.
I’m not sure it will ever replace a mouse (especially since they put cacti into the mix), but I still find Botanicus Interacticus to be pretty exciting, right up there with tree cookie LPs. It seems strange at first, using plants to make music and art, but think about it … Pan’s pipes? Reeds. Early drums? Probably a gourd and some animal hide. Paints? Some definitely have plant-based pigments. When you look at it that way, it kind of makes sense to try and bridge the gap between plants and technology. And it sounds pretty, too. ~AR
Whoa. Touch a plant, control a computer, make music, make art, and a whole lot more. Pretty amazing stuff. Sure beats a mouse.
I am a bit of a closet metalhead, so when one of my colleagues sent me this year-old article about the black metal artist Botanist I was thrilled. Apparently Botanist comes by his botanical fascination through an initial fascination with words (double nerd score!) combined with a concern about the world and the environment. This is some seriously nerdy stuff, and while his voice makes me cringe a bit (I have to be honest, it’s kind of painful to listen to, he sounds strangled), the music—a combination of fast metal drumming on traditional drum kit and hammered dulcimer—can be, dare I say?, pretty. Click through for the full article; it’s worth the four-minutes it will take you to read, if only for his explanation as to why Cerbera odollam is the most metal plant. ~AR
Just because. ~AR
lettuce turnip the beet
We have noticed this correlation, too, and are offering concerts throughout Monet’s Garden featuring Debussy and his contemporaries Faure and Roussel. The next one isn’t until October 7, but if you want to indulge in additional artistic synchronicity, you can visit our Monet to Mallarme Poetry Walk in the Perennial Garden.
It’s no big secret that art and music are often correlated—they possess a unifying motive to illustrate something (at least in the realm of 19th Century Impressionism) either through literal illustration or evoking an image through music.
With that said, I find the attachment of certain artists…
I know, it’s a bit of a cliche song, but I’m stuck inside today (for all good reasons … it’s app submission day!). I hear it’s simply marvelous out in the Garden: warm sun, gentle breezes, lilacs, tulips, cherry blossoms, giggling children, chirping birds!
It’s all very idyllic and happy, and for some reason this is the song that I keep hearing in my head as I sit in our conference room. What is the song that makes you giddy with happiness on a beautiful spring day like today? ~AR
(Source: Spotify)
Apparently I was not the only person inside the Garden who was as taken with the video of an LP player making music from a tree cookie. Mia D’Avanza, Reference Librarian/Exhibitions Coordinator for the LuEsther T. Mertz Library was curious enough to call in the scientific big guns, in this case, James P. Ascher, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and “techy smartypants,” who provided the following explanation:
light sensor (Arduino or otherwise) + Max/MSP (or equivalent, Ld or cSound would work too) + the hardware setup you see + clever programming to translate the light and dark of the wood into interesting MIDI signals + a nice MIDI synthesizer to produce the piano sounds = what you see; that’s why it’s in the dark!
What does “Arduino + light sensor” mean? Mr. Ascher was kind enough to include this video clip with his answer.
Some days I love my job so much. Thank you Mia and James! ~ AR
This turntable plays trees. No, really. You have to see this to believe it.
We need this at the Garden. How dreamy and wonderful. I wonder if different trees make different sounds? How would a tulip tree differ from a birch? Would an invasive species like the Norway maple sound menacing? Would a willow sound sprightly and flexible? ~AR
We knew that gardening was inspirational, but never dreamed it could lead to something as danceable and beautiful as this track and video by Nick Bertke, who goes by the name Pogo. Learn more about Gardyn and the inspiration (Nick’s mother!).
Sure. Here are just a few of my favorites (in no particular order):
11 Prairial: Fraise (strawberry, Fragaria spp., including various hybrids and other cultivars)
It turns out that the end of the eighteenth...
New York Botanical Garden
Yes, mushrooms growing in our library in Sunnyside.
What did you expect to find?
Artist Philip Haas installation of the Four Seasons in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard at the NYBG (New York Botanical Garden)....
Imagined conversations from bygone times
What do we want?
A robust variety of naturally-occurring flora in bloom for campus beauty and...
Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY.
People just accept that I love the New York Botanical Garden and look at the pictures of the pretty things.
BTW NYBG I love the new Native Plants...
