Spectrogram Series, 2009
Spectrogram Series is a data-driven environmental drawing project by Australian artist Debbie Symons translating bird calls into visual form to explore bioacoustics, species diversity, and ecological change.
The large-scale drawings derived from the calls of five principal albatross species of the Southern Ocean:
- Grey-headed Albatross
- Shy Albatross
- Black-browed Albatross
- Wandering Albatross
- Light-mantled Albatross
Using spectrogram-based sound visualisation, the work translates bioacoustic recordings into visual form, revealing the distinct rhythms and structures of each bird’s call. These drawings foreground the individuality and diversity of albatross vocalisations, offering a rare, tangible encounter with a species more often experienced at a distance.
Installation image at Shifted Gallery of Debbie Symons Spectrogram works.
This body of work reflects on both the scientific practice of sound recording and the broader field of bioacoustics, while drawing attention to the ongoing decline of albatross populations. Many of these species are now listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened, part of a growing number of over 18,000 species facing extinction worldwide.
By translating ephemeral sound into a fixed visual language, The Spectrogram Series seeks to preserve something of these calls before they are lost. It invites contemplation of the ecological and cultural impoverishment that accompanies species extinction—particularly in the case of the albatross, whose vast wingspan and enduring presence have long occupied both maritime history and poetic imagination.
The series was exhibited at Shifted Gallery in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, as part of the exhibition Losing the Unique.