So Kanno
So Kanno (b. 1984) is a media artist based in Berlin since 2013. After earning a BFA from Musashino Art University and finishing graduate studies at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS), he now serves as Project Professor at Aichi University of the Arts. His work explores robotics that embrace unpredictability, emergence, and system “errors.” In Lasermice, he developed robot swarms mimicking small animal groups; in Kazokutchi, he created a robotic host for NFT-based digital life. His practice spans installations, performances, and workshops with his custom robots.
Chirping Machines
I like birds. When I’m walking outside and hear a bird’s song, I stop and listen. Over the years, I’ve grown attuned to their calls and can now recognize species by voice—and through them, sense the changing seasons.
I’m drawn to the voices of small creatures. Finding the source of a captivating song can be hard. Crows are easy to spot, but their calls don’t enchant. Nightingales sing beautifully, yet tracking one down is no simple task.
I also love the calls of frogs and crickets, equally elusive. Since ancient times, instruments have been made to imitate these animal sounds—folk instruments passed down through generations. Long before instruments mastered scales and harmonies, people used them to communicate with animals or to express our bond with them in ritual.
Why do my favorite animals call? Japanese researcher Toshitaka Suzuki discovered a linguistic structure in the tit’s song: they converse with grammar. Frog choruses assert territory, but in Australian field recordings by artist Felix Hess, two frogs finely coordinate their croaks so they don’t overlap—an intriguing, experimental rhythm to my ear.
I’m neither bird nor frog, so I can’t know their moods or intentions. But imagining them inspired me to design and program sound-making robots. These robots act out their animal personas: they recognize their own calls and hear ambient sounds. In this park, many singing robots are hidden—see if you can find them by sound.
Coproduction: KIKK
