You Are Hear
2024
You Are Hear is an interactive Sound Installation developed during the MTF Labs - JUST DATA week in Linköping, Sweden in collaboration with Anthony Cowie and Daphanie Oon.
Received the Susan Lesley Bland Prize for Social Good.
The prize is named after the first hypertext system creator, Robert Cailliau's recently passed away wife, Susan, who was the longest employee at CERN.
The piece is intended as a provocation inviting the audience to reflect on the nature of data and the role it plays overtly and tacitly. The layers of information highlighted here are indicative of the scope of information available at any one time. Such is the constancy of data flow, our experiences can be vastly different and is dependant on our abilities to process cues, filter noise and identify signals. The stark contrast in the recordings illustrates the potency of the experience of data, and the ways in which it can be used. Notions of normalcy and othering are frameworks to consider the work within, and the audience are encouraged to consider their own positionality in relation to their experiences of data and environment, and the ways in which they feel equipped to engage with it.
Two recordings were made of both audio and electromagnetic frequencies during an exploration of Linköping centre. These recordings were mapped to Gametrak controllers using Max MSP software. Participants can interact with the recordings by pulling the cords of the controllers. The sounds of the cityscape will be replayed with the interface acting in the manner of a tape reel, or vinyl record – capable of being ‘scrubbed/scratched’. Points along the journey are referenced along the length of the controller cord as it is extended, and participants may find sounds that are familiar, recognisable, or suggestive.
