Chickadee Tree

The chickadee tree is a musical-visual artistic installation, consisting of 106 self-engineered flutes, wind-powered lights, and a live tree. 

Wind passing through the tree is being broken up into the flute's uneven overtones. 

The flute's bodies are made of recycled computer-cooling acrylic tubes, and the heads were designed and manufactured by me with a 3D printer and polylactic acid (derived from corn).

The illumination of the tree is generated by a basic wind turbine, made from a battery, LEDs, recycled PVC tubes, and recycled plastic sheets.

The chickadee tree gets its name from the Black-capped chickadee, a native bird of Massachusetts known for its pleasant, sweet appearance and sound. 

The warning call of this tree is a compelling one, similar to that of the chickadee. 

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Imagine if nature could signal to us with natural materials that something is not quite right. This tree flashes during the day using the transparent flutes; makes a whistling sound with the wind and illuminates itself with the wind during the night.

Besides serving as a gift to the community, I see this tree as a musical/visual message for us to do better, and take advantage of what we have, and create a more pleasant environment without harming it.