The Auguries (Last Calls) - Wakefield, UK - Abstract Public Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This sculpture is one of 6 pieces of artwork commissioned by Wakefield in 1923.

There is an information board near to the sculpture with the following information.

Andy Holden
THE AUGURIES
(LAST CALLS)
BRONZE AND CONCRETE, 2023

'These sculptures are a melancholy time capsule of birds' songs that could soon disappear, sung by species in rapid decline. They should act as totems to remind us of our fragile relationship with nature. The songs are memorialised as sculptures. By reading the shape of the sculpture we can reconstruct the sound in our mind.'
- Andy Holden

Andy Holden was inspired by the fact that the world's first recognised nature reserve was founded in the Wakefield District by Charles Waterton at Walton Hall in 1826. Waterton was also among the first to develop both bird hides and nest boxes. Andy has a special interest in birds and often works with his father, Peter. Peter Holden formerly worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and set up the annual Big Garden Birdwatch. Andy identified a number of birds native to

the British Isles that are in rapid decline. He transformed recordings of the birds' songs into sculptures based on the shapes of the sound waves. The sculptures are cast in bronze and you can hear the bird song through the QR code, as well as find out more about the birds. The artwork is called Auguries because ancient Romans used birds to predict the future. Augur means to portend a good or bad outcome, or to foretell.

There is more detail about the sculpture on the website.
"The bronze sculptures are three dimensional representations of wave forms generated by recording the unique song of each bird. Wave forms of sound recordings are normally viewed horizontally, however the sculpture are displayed vertically, pointing up towards the sky. The species represented here were inspired by references in Waterton’s notebooks, and because they are species in rapid decline throughout the U.K, and in particular the Yorkshire area. The Swift, for example, has declined by over 50% in the last 25 years in Yorkshire.

The use of bronze recalls the public sculptures of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, who would sometimes take natural elements such as stones or flint as the starting point for their public works. The sound of each bird becomes a solid form and given the long life of bronze as a material the sculptures could outlive the presence of the species they represent, becoming memorials to sounds that are no longer audible to future generations. The concrete base is recessed with the shape of a lituus staff, these spiral wands were used by augurs in ancient Rome to interpret the movement of birds in an attempt to predict the future.

The patina of each bronze lightly references the distinctive colouring of each species, or the environment in which the bird can be found. The songs, when turned into solid forms, become reminiscent of other objects. The Mistle Thrush song recalls the shape of a tree, the Bittern is reminiscent of a reed stem, invoking its habitat, and the screech of the swift evokes a gothic church spire reaching up into the sky, which is a common nest site for Swifts after returning from their long migratory journey." link

Title: The Uaguries (Last Calls) Artist: Andy Holden Media (materials) used: Bronze and Concrete Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): Outside Wakefield One - the headquarters of Wakefield Council Date of creation or placement: 2023

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