Index

Gallus gallus. Diary of 10 Nights in August

With Lorenzo Peluffo

Ghëddo, Superbudda, Turin, Italy

23 October - 1 November 2024

The book is part of the Interspecies Library, New York City, NY, USA

The project unfolds as an experiment in speculative narrative, intertwining technology, bioacoustics, and futurology.
In August 2024, we recorded the sounds emitted by two red hens, Monica and Samantha, over ten consecutive nights using a portable recorder and a surveillance camera. The recordings were analyzed to identify the different types of sounds produced during sleep, tracing the sequence and tonal variations, with the aim of creating a ten-night diary.
This process led to the development of an artificial intelligence capable of delivering a revelation each morning to the human living alongside the hens. This AI functions as a digital oracle: it processes the hens’ nighttime sounds and, like a modern-day dream interpreter, transforms their memory into a narrative of the future, shared with the human.
The installation featured a book narrating the project and illustrating the ten-night diary, along with two monitors displaying footage from the surveillance camera and a visual representation of the artificial intelligence at work.