Usman Haque: Sky Ear
On 15 September 2004, between 19.00 and 21.30, a large glowing cloud of 1000 helium-filled balloons and mobile phones was seen floating 60 metres above the Museum's lawns.
The event was part of New Visions – the Museum's on-going contemporary art programme.
Some 3500 visitors came to the museum and participated in contemporary art in the making. The artist, Usman Haque, invited onlookers and people on the Web to dial the airborne mobile phones and listen to the electromagnetic sounds of the sky.
Each balloon in the 'Sky Ear' cloud contained sensors and light emitting diodes that responded to electromagnetic fields by changing colour. See a diagram showing how 'Sky Ear' works.
Usman Haque said:
'Sky' Ear is about making visible the invisible, giving form to an electromagnetic space that is just beyond reach of our natural perceptions. It encourages people to become creative participants in an interactive performance.
The National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory, with their related interests in 'exploring the unknown', provide an ideal venue for the project.
The event was funded by the Daniel Langois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology and the Arts Council England, and made possible through the technical support of Seth Garlock, Senseinate, Inc. Touch One 332 mobile phones provided by Alcatel.
Biography and further information
Usman Haque is an artist whose multimedia installations and performances draw heavily on his training as an architect. He is founder of Haque Design and Research, a former partner in architecture practice Pletts Haque and teaches at the Bartlett School of Architecture in the Interactive Architecture Workshop.
His work has been exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), Ars Electronica (Austria), the Hillside Gallery (Tokyo), the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Fabrica gallery, Brighton and Plymouth Arts Centre.