I’m a Nomad not a Drifter, being Adrift is of course a different kettle of fish, as it implies an active surrender to the vagaries of the elements, be they maritime or psychological ~ I usually go for both!
The Adrift project was conceived and realised for the Memory Flows exhibition at the CarriageWorks in Sydney and comprised of two sounding vessels. My trusty sea kayak “Siika” pressed into sonic-service, equipped with a “Solid-Drive” transducer that transformed the...
Zephyr ~ an Æolian Harp kinetic Sculpture for the Geraldton foreshore.
Methinks, it should have been impossible
Not to love all things in a World like this,
Where e’en the Breezes of the simple Air
Possess the power and Spirit of Melody!
Coleridge, The Æolian Harp.
This project has been a long time coming, being delayed by changes in the site soon after the commission was awarded. Here are some contemporary images of the project as re-defined, followed by the...
The rational and the fantastical: the morphology of Nigel Helyer, by Gail Priest 2008
Despite Star Trek’s propagandist efforts for space as the final frontier, the vast unknown can be found much closer to home in the form of the earth’s oceans. Occupying approximately 79% of the planet it is estimated that only 5% of the watery depths have yet been explored. With the threat of impending environmental disaster the drive to better understand the global ocean has...
Interface map
Catalogue Notes: The title is an ironic reference to the motto of submarine captains in WWII who knew that the silence of their craft was the key to remaining undetected. In contrast this artwork is a whole-hearted embrace of the richly sonic world deep within the ocean. The artist will be bringing this auditory world to the surface in an immersive surround-sound experience, which will be located within the gallery.
Prior to the exhibition, the artist...
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This commission for a new Marine facility at Henderson WA has recently been completed. The work is comprised of three elements, a Video-projection work, a series of interactive biomorphic sculptures and an outdoor kinetic work, consisting of six counter-balanced needles which interact with the wind.
Three years on, the landscaping has matured and the kinetic work is as installed.
View from the lounge of the Marine Centre.
Laser cut...
Listen to this space (well a space in Western Australia).
AudioMaze is an interactive project for the new exhibition space at the WA Blind and Guide-Dog AssociationA development of the “Talking Stick” project commissioned by the “Exploratorium” Museum of Science and Human Perception” in San Francisco, AudioMaze presents the sonic experience of an imagioned architectural space. Visitors may interact with the soundscape by using ‘sonic wands’.
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Quint de Loup II was exhibitied at the Tin Sheds Gallery, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Sydney ~ the show rounded up with a one day seminar on Sound, Art, Architecture and the Environment.
Here is my short presentation.
The download is a bit slow ~ but it’s worth the wait!
Fictionalising Fiction! ~ Nigel Helyer.
In the...
The Wireless House is a current public art project commissioned by the City of Sydney as part of the Glebe Point Road upgrade. The wireless House is located in Foley park at the intersection of Glebe Point Road and Pyrmont Bridge road and has an interesting history.
Listen to some oral history material that we are collecting in Glebe ~ join the group to contribute
and check out Glebenet
http://www.pool.org.au/text/wireless_house/the_wireless_house_in_glebenet
and...
Be not afeared; this isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices
that, if I then had waked, after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me,
that when I waked, I cried to dream again.
William Shakespeare, The Tempest.
Prototype testing the mobile audio units...
‘Swarm’ is the latest development of a series of interactive ‘Theremin’ based sound sculptures (see ‘Ariel’, ‘Caliban’s Children’ and ‘Quint de Loup’). ‘Swarm’ is concieved to operate out-doors and is the first of the series to be solar powered ~ the work is installed in the Werribbe Mansion Park as part of the Herlen Lermpriere Sculpture Award.
Swarm 2005
stainless steel, acrylic, audio electronics, steel rigging cable
Footprint = 8,000 cm x 8,000 cm x 3,500 cm X10...