SARAH BURRELL
HELLO WANDERER
(Melbourne, Australia)
Hello Wanderer is a location-based audio work that celebrates the minor and overlooked narratives within Melbourne's inner north that have been discovered by local residents during recent lockdowns. Audio recordings will be hidden throughout a 5k radius surrounding the project base at 261 Gillies Street in Melbourne, Australia.
In the period leading up to Art Prospect 2020, the artist collaborated remotely with local residents and asked them to contribute observations and reflections in the form of recordings to build up an audio catalogue to be included in the work. Collectively, these audio recordings produce a sonic picture of the neighborhood in this unique and strange time from the perspective of its inhabitants. This project aims to create a sense of digital intimacy between participants and neighbors as they listen to the recorded stories.
Successive lockdowns in Melbourne, where restrictions have included the confinement of people a 5k radius, have prompted a reflection on the opportunities and value of the local neighborhood. These areas, sometimes perceived as banal or ordinary, have been reframed as a perimeter containing daily life and have suddenly become extraordinary. The ritual of the daily walk has become something to look forward to and treasure and it has uncovered many unexpected discoveries in the area that were previously overlooked.
To visit the audio map for Hello Wanderer click here.
Sarah Burrell is a spatial designer and artist whose practice spans installation, interactive design, and socially-engaged practice. Her projects take the form of sound installations, participatory performances and urban interventions – innovative hybrid works that invite participants to reimagine the world they live in and how they participate in it. Her work has been presented at Art in Odd Places and La Mama Experimental Theatre in New York, The Performance Arcade and the Creative NZ 21st Century Interactive Art Conference in New Zealand, The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space in the Czech Republic, and Art Prospect in Russia. Sarah is currently undertaking a PhD within Interior Design at RMIT University, School of Architecture & Urban Design. She is a sessional Lecturer in Spatial Design (School of Design, MADA, Monash University). She lives and works in Melbourne on Wurundjeri land.