see hear

2 channel, independent random playback audio installation – 2023

See Hear is a random playback two channel sound installation on the outer gallery wall of The Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, Co Clare, Ireland. Hundreds of residents of Ennistymon contributed to this work, making it a mapping, or projection of the town in 2023. See Hear is an artwork that acknowledges community, diversity, openness, and support through a simple mechanism for participation, collective activity, and testimony to a sense of belonging. Ennistymon is continuously changing and diverse place that continues to welcome new arrivals to our community seeking rest, refuge and love of neighbours, friends and family. 

McLoughlin spent a period of time in the summer of 2023 recording the names of people in the town. These recordings where then processed to make an artwork that randomly plays back a continuously changing proposition of connectivity. The work takes the form of a ‘broadcast’ from two speakers outside the gallery that call out the names of everyone who was recorded. The piece was heard from 9AM to 9PM and travels a distance along Parliament Street depending on the time or day, humidity, and temperature. It travels through the air, through the streets, as a testimony to belonging and call to friends. 

This work was made with invaluable assistance of artist Jarlath Slattery. It was funded by Creative Ireland and The Courthouse Gallery.