The Nightbird
Audio, silverleaf, industrial megaphone, vinyl. 2015, 2022.
Nemer sings as bird song the names of an evolving list of gay male artists who died of AIDS. From Felix Gonzales-Torres to Marlon Riggs, from Rotimi Fani-Kayode to Hervé Guibert, the calls form a lamentation for a community of potential mentors, friends, and comrades forever out of reach.
The artist's song is broadcast from a gilded megaphone installed in a tree. A handwritten list of the artists' names appears on a gallery wall in silver vinyl, as though publicising the participants of a speculative group exhibition. The Nightbird takes direct inspiration from Louise Lawler’s 1972-81 sound piece Birdcalls. Nemer wrote to Lawler to describe his concept and ask her permission to re-imagine her canonical piece. Critical writing about The Nightbird includes, “Une Autre Voix,” a review by Lisa Moravec in Springerin Magazine, 2017.
The artist's song is broadcast from a gilded megaphone installed in a tree. A handwritten list of the artists' names appears on a gallery wall in silver vinyl, as though publicising the participants of a speculative group exhibition. The Nightbird takes direct inspiration from Louise Lawler’s 1972-81 sound piece Birdcalls. Nemer wrote to Lawler to describe his concept and ask her permission to re-imagine her canonical piece. Critical writing about The Nightbird includes, “Une Autre Voix,” a review by Lisa Moravec in Springerin Magazine, 2017.
