Birds I wouldn't have heard

Wainwright & Wynne

What is it like to receive or donate an organ? How do disease and transplantation affect daily life?

Tim Wainwright and John Wynne’s installation, Birds I wouldn’t have heard, conveys the impact of disease and transplantation on the daily lives and identity of recipients, live donors and those on the waiting list. The work weaves still and moving images, voice and field recordings to explore the breadth and depth of emotions and experiences encountered whilst the artists were in-residence at the Royal Free and Harefield Hospitals, both world-leading centres for organ transplants.

Working within the hospital and in the homes of nearly 30 participants, the artists have captured a surprising variety of responses to this transformative and challenging procedure and convey them with an unexpected combination of intensity and delicacy.

This multichannel installation was created for Science Gallery London in 2018-19 with materials collected as part of the artists’ Transplant and Life project at the Hunterian Museum in 2017, funded primarily by Arts Council England and the Royal College of Surgeons.