Next Thursday (24 Sept) I’ll be presenting I’m here to listen 3 in Liquid Architecture‘s Capitalist Surrealism program at the NGV.

I’m here to listen 3

I’m here to listen 3 is – maybe unsurprisingly by its title – the third in a series of works critiquing acts of listening that take place between people. I’m here to listen 1 and 2 use technological mediation – via a pre-recorded phone call, and video call respectively – to establish experiences of being listened to that are ambiguous in their authenticity, making conspicuous in its absence the nuance in the performance of listening implicitly expected from a conversational partner.

I’m here to listen 3 builds on this premise, using the technological mediation of a video projection of a live performance of listening (to the other artist/speakers in the Capitalist Surrealism program) to redirect the performance of listening, and explore the boundary of its intimate and social forms. Using the simple illusion created by looking directly into a camera – giving anyone looking at the resultant image the impression of being looked at (and listened to) – I’m here to listen 3 makes everyone in the lecture hall an object, as well as an agent, of listening.