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
Florasonic Installation “Fell to Fern” by Kiku Hibino
LINCOLN PARK CONSERVATORY | 2391 NORTH STOCKTON DRIVE CHICAGO, IL, 60614
Installation open to the public during Lincoln Park Conservatory open hours through September 25, 2022. The installation plays at the top of every hour.
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
About Kiku 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 at the top of every hour.