HEAR! HERE! is an idea for a new public artwork. The work functions both as a visual work - a sculptural mural on a wall or a carousel like circular sculpture in open space - and as an immersive and interactive sound installation. The intention of the work is to engage the community in a surprising way, encouraging a magical path to interact with strangers, and communicate with friends - playfully negotiating the space between the private and the public.

The work is composed of colourful lines of hollow piping stretched out along a wall or as a circular sculpture. These lines intersect and overlap, forming a visual composition. Both ends of each of the four lines, are shaped like ears, inviting people to approach, listen and speak into one of these ends. When another person speaks or listens at the other end of the same line, those two people can communicate with each other intimately, even though they are far apart. Up to eight people, or four pairs of people, can be communicating at once, allowing for surprising interactions, inviting a sense of community that is attractive to both adults and children and is a strong visual installation in a public space. 

At first, this public art installation seems like a colourful version of an older, nostalgic idea of how children can whisper to each other through a pipe. A simple idea that always seems to feel magical. But this version has a few twists. The colour of the work are the colours of the LGBTQ flag. And where it would seem that the two ends of the same coloured pipe would be the channel where two people could communicate, it is soon discovered that the colours do not correspond because the middle junction, where all the pipes twist and overlap, screens how the lines and colours actually connect.

Inspired by the way public transport maps allow everyone to access their destination through colour coded lines, but also invite happy accidents and discoveries, participants are encouraged to use their ears and not their eyes to discover where to talk to each other. On the way discovering new conversations with strangers, allowing the possibility for funny, accidental interactions and new discoveries.

The images here are a combination of early sketches for the concept, as well as existing and related artworks that function as a useful reference for the idea. Visual renders will be available soon.