Raven Chacon's Aviary Soundscape at American Academy of Arts and Letters

Raven Chacon's site-specific sound installation Aviary (2024) transforms a Beaux-Arts gallery at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The Diné artist created a 37-minute composition using field recordings from the Audubon Society's digital archive of bird calls native to the northeastern United States, historically Lenape territory. Chacon layered these with seven impressions of extinct or endangered species, which he performed on instruments crafted from found materials displayed in the gallery foyer. These include a Hudson Valley sink P-trap recreating the great auk's croak and a salvaged bedpost knob mimicking passenger pigeon coos. The installation represents one of the academy's first commissioned artworks since 2019, marking a shift from its 126-year history as primarily an award-granting society. Visitors encounter wedge-shaped cushions on the floor beneath a frosted glass ceiling, experiencing six-second echoes that evoke historical hauntings. The work references the property's history: the 5.6-hectare campus was purchased by naturalist John James Audubon after his success with The Birds of America (1838). Aviary runs through July 3, 2025, creating a space that juxtaposes sanctuary with discomfort, highlighting North America's loss of over a quarter of its bird population in fifty years.