Songs to the Sun by Scott Rogers at the Markham Civic Centre

Songs to the Sun (Wing Score), drawing / digital file, 2023, Courtesy of the artist

The City of Markham’s Public Art Program is pleased to present Songs to the Sun, an eight-channel sound installation by artist Scott Rogers, in the Great Hall of the Markham Civic Centre. Originally commissioned by Kari Cwynar and first presented at the City of Toronto’s 2023 Nuit Blanche, Songs to the Sun is now part of the City of Markham’s Circulating Public Art Collection. This collection includes new acquisitions by artists such as Saimaiyu Akesuk, Steve Driscoll, Howie Hsui, Geoffrey James, Qavavau Manumie, Ohotaq Mikkigak, Esmaa Mohamoud, Native Art Department International (Maria Hupfield and Jason Lujan), Pitseolak Niviaqsi, Johnny Pootoogook, Pauojoungie Saggiak, Pitaloosie Saila, Ningiukulu Teevee, and Xiaojing Yan. Together, these works explore the theme of Urban Landscape—a cultural and social reflection that takes the multifaceted process of urbanization in Markham as its starting point.

Sunrise is when many daytime birds awaken and begin to sing. This worldwide phenomenon is known as the dawn chorus. For the artist, it is a unifying expression of the vast living simultaneity of our planet. Songs to the Sun takes this global soundscape as its starting point, creating an immersive audio composition in which the songs of birds from across the globe are brought together in a polyphony that unfolds over a 12-hour period. Using open-source field recordings composed through chance-based operations, the work reflects on the passage of light, sound, and time through nonhuman scales and rhythms, and across vast distances and ecologies.

The Markham Civic Centre was designed in 1986 by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. He envisioned the Great Hall as a glass-roofed winter garden—a spatial threshold intersecting with the functional blocks of the Civic Centre, including the department wing on the west, the executive wing on the east, and the committee rooms and council chamber to the north, as well as a chapel and cafeteria at lake level. The Great Hall also visually extends to the reflecting pool—a man-made lake—and the public park surrounding the building. The placement of this sound installation aims to augment the embodied experience of this thoughtful design feature by inserting an immaterial architecture—a soundscape composed of bird songs and calls—into the existing built environment.

Songs to the Sun (Wren), photograph, 2023, Courtesy of the artist

Public Programming

Join us for Multi-sensory Birding for Beginners on Saturday, November 2, from 4–6pm Led by artist and birder Scott Rogers, this 2-hour walk is open to participants ages 5 and up. While many focus on sight when birdwatching, this walk will encourage you to engage your other senses, prioritizing hearing and bodily awareness to connect with wildlife in local Markham habitats. Binoculars and bird books are welcome but not required.

Bus transportation from downtown Toronto is available (departing Spadina and Bloor at 2:15pm and returning by 7pm) and includes a stop at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham for a tour of the current exhibitions, Meera Sethi: A Brief History of Wear and Tracing Patterns. Seats are limited, and registration is required. Please email publicart@markham.ca to reserve your spot and inquire about event details.

This event is co-presented with the Varley Art Gallery of Markham.

About the Artist

Scott Rogers was born in Mohkinstsis Treaty 7 Calgary, and lives in Tkaronto and Glasgow, Scotland. Scott produces artworks that form relations between humans and other lifeforms, proposing ways of living together more hospitably. Some of his recent projects have been presented with Ormston House (Limerick, IR), Atlas Arts (Skye, SCO) Koraï Project Space (Nicosia, CY), Nuit Blanche Toronto (CA), Kunstverein München (DE), Kamias Triennial (Manila, PH), Franz Kaka (Toronto, CA), and KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin, DE).

Media inquiries:
Yan Wu
Markham Public Art Curator
ywu@markham.ca