Whispers Amidst the Noise, 2024 in collaboration with Mariola Orawiec, Phillipa Whitehead, Linda Buttle, Rinku Shaw, Agnieszka Stankiewicz, Elzbieta Orczykowska, Martin Bennett, Angela Joss, Amanda Dixon, Angela Chesters, Josie Platt, Jake Haygarth, Yvonne Rawcliffe, Julie Haygarth and Christine Southern.
Specifications
Six hoses installed on mounted brackets.
Various sizes.
Description
Place a vacuum cleaner hose to your ear and listen. This work comes out of José’s encounters with cleaning staff working early morning shifts vacuuming the university library. The noise of the vacuum cleaner can be an irritating, disruptive noise, almost uncomfortable to listen to – and so vacuuming happens early to avoid interrupting library users. As well as inaudible, the work becomes invisible. The sound of the vacuum cleaner announces the presence of the cleaning staff, but not in a way that encourages the wider university community to feel appreciative. By replacing the vacuum cleaner sounds with individual stories shared by cleaners, this work draws our attention to the individuals and experiences often drowned out by the loud mechanical sound.