"Ever since I was a child I would test different spaces with my voice or whistle or violin," says acclaimed musician Andrew Bird of his latest project Echolocations, which looks at influence of natural and manmade structures on sound. "Whatever sound you make it's like a giant limb that can reach beyond your fingers and grope the corners of the room." 

For Canyon, the first of five films made with director Tyler Manson for the series, Bird chose the violin to take on his journey through the red sandstone of Coyote Gulch in Utah, eventually resting at a cathedral-like space that reverberates with otherworldly sound as he plays the instrument. The recordings were subsequently used for “Sonic Arboretum,” the singer-songwriter’s collaboration with legendary luthier and founder of Specimen Products Ian Schneller, at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. "There is a simple, raw nature to documenting Andrew's process. His reactionary and responsive playing is reflected in the fleeting and spontaneous visuals," Manson says.

"It's a challenge but I enjoy the moments when I must yield to the environment," explains Bird. "So I thought it would be interesting to take all this outside where the reflections off the landscape are triggering countless inferences and steering the conversation." 

Sonic Arboretum by Andrew Bird and Ian Schneller at The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston runs to May 10.