Phantom Railings’ is an interactive sound installation that draws on history and place, and brings into question issues about public space and accessibility.
Inspired by the War Effort in Britain (WWII) when railings were removed from parks and gardens as an initiative to ‘democratise’ urban space (which only lasted until the war ended); the installation engages with a centuries-old debate about railings by promoting a critical awareness about the social and spatial history of London.
The particular site of interventions is Malet Street Gardens, Bloomsbury; a garden where the railings were never put back and only a line of iron stumps remains. The piece uses the movement of pedestrians to make evident the absence of the lost iron fence.
Using sensor-based acoustic devices (installed along the peripheral wall) the installation recreates the familiar sound produced by running a stick along an iron fence. The pitch of each sound is set to vary according to the pedestrian’s speed and proximity allowing the phantom railings to be played and tuned by passers-by. ´Phantom Railings´ will remain on-site until October 14th.
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About
Public Interventions is an interdisciplinary collective exploring new ways to engage public interest and promote the cultural use of public space by combining art and technology in the production of interactive urban installations. We are based at the Centre for Creative Collaboration, University of London, working under the principles of collaborative practice and open innovation.
Catalina Pollak, Dip.Arch, MA, MArch, architect and visual artist using cross-disciplinary processes to explore the narratives of space. She has being granted Artist in Residence at C4CC, and Visiting Collaboration Associate status by the University of London to conduct this project.
In collaboration with:
Guillaume Zenses, musician and sound artist with extensive experience as sound designer in various festivals and venues in France.
Steven Kelly, product designer specialized in electronics.
Adrian Godwin, electric engineer
Jeroen Janssen, architect specialized in emergent technologies.
Daniel Soltis, creative technologist of physical interfaces.
Ken Boak, electronic design engineer and open-source developer.
Deborah Davies, broadcast journalist with expertise in documentary filmmaking.
Nathanael Price, Art Historian and writer.
Afonso Martins, Graphic Designer
Bartira Sena, Musician.
