One of the city’s most innovative artistic projects is slated for installation on campus at Hart House this spring.
The [murmur] project is an audio archive of Torontonians’ stories about their city that began in 2003 when artists Shawn Micallef, James Roussel, and Gabe Sawhney united to create a new media project. Instead of using computer-screen technology (like many of the new media projects emerging at that time), the trio concentrated their efforts on mobile phone technology.
First, the trio collected and recorded multiple stories from Torontonians-the first batch was set in the Kensington Market area-then they installed signage in the specific locations corresponding to the tales. Each of their signs-a stylized green ear-included a telephone number and a specific extension code. When passersby call that number on their cellphones, they are greeted with a story that is set at the specific location of the sign.
Since the first set of installations in Kensington Market in 2003, additional [murmur] stations have been established in the Annex, down Spadina Avenue, and even along Montreal’s St. Laurent Boulevard and in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The project’s website, murmurtoronto.ca, illustrates the roughly 80 [murmur] locations in Toronto.
Following much critical praise for the project, Hart House artistic programmers decided to invite the [murmur] collective to install their signature green-ear stations at Hart House. Although [murmur] is a highly in-demand project, the artist collective accepted the offer.
Micallef, one of the founders of [murmur], explains the appeal in working at this U of T landmark.
“Hart House is a lot more specific [than our other locations]. I think there will be more of a core, a theme, to the stories we collect. But it’s hard to say until we get the stories. It is up to our storytellers to weave it together.”
Project coordinators continue to collect the personal stories that will make up the [murmur] installations at Hart House. Micallef notes that people often worry their stories are not important enough, and they are hesitant to share; however, he stresses that “the stories we are looking for are from everyday life.”
Jenifer Newcombe, program advisor at Hart House, cites the importance of having a project at Hart House that includes everyday stories.
“[murmur] reveals the hidden histories and personal narratives that aren’t included in the formal history that is written in books,” she points out.
To be sure, the official plaque in front of Hart House does not fully portray the history of the building. The project hopes to collect a variety of stories from students, as well as staff, faculty, alumni, or other Torontonians with a favourite story about a Hart House experience-really, all stories are welcome for submission to the project.
Likewise, volunteers are also needed to meet the project’s March completion date. Volunteers will help collect and record stories for the project. In fact, the [murmur] collective asks that volunteers record storytellers at the particular setting of their story. This approach enables the storytellers to draw on physical references for their narration.
Once stories have been collected and recorded, preparations will be underway to coordinate telephone numbers and install the signs in and around Hart House. Although it is uncertain how long the installations will be in place, project coordinators hope that their work will remain a permanent fixture at Hart House.
Micallef muses that “90 percent of the work is collecting the stories. Keeping them up is easy.”
Furthermore, the technology used for the installation enables additional stories to be added to the archive. In this way, the project has the potential to evolve with time.
Regardless of how long the Hart House installation lasts, the U of T community will be able to sample the project first-hand at a launch March 15.
Lise Hosein, assistant curator at the Barnicke Gallery at Hart House, expects a warm reception for the Hart House installations.
“The project has been extremely well-received because they make spaces very human, and they make us realize how much these spaces mean to us.,” she says. “I think [the installations] will give us a grasp on how much life actually takes place within Hart House”.
Until the launch, however, the public can only speculate what great life stories have taken place in Hart House’s chapel or library or swimming pool-or any number of special spaces nestled within the nearly century-old student centre.
To find out more about [murmur]’s other local installations, visit their site at murmurtoronto.ca, or if you’re interested in contributing to the upcoming Hart House project, e-mail [email protected].
