Listen Hear is sound art project of Big Car that moved from its physical space on Shelby St. to radio at 99.1WQRT LP and streams online at www.wqrt.org. This project highlights sound as a material in art while bringing people together; give focus to the importance of our daily soundscape; engage new listeners with tools and techniques related to deep listening; and provide opportunities to new and uninitiated audiences to experience sound as art.
Listen Hear started in 2014 when Big Car opened it as one of two pop-up spaces and along an oasis along Little Eagle Creek at the Lafayette Place strip mall on the west side of Indianapolis. On the westside, Listen Hear offered experimental experiences in sound art and sculpture as well as many live performances. The Show Room, next door, was a temporary community space and incubator for socially engaged art – as well as home of the Loo-vre project.
In 2015, it moved to a building Big Car purchased, 2620 Shelby Street, the space hosted over 150 exhibits and sound related events before closing its physical space mid-2024. This is still the home of our FCC-licensed community radio station, WQRT 99.1 LP FM that broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week as an art museum and community and cultural space on the airwaves.
LISTEN – a found sound compilation from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
Empty Listen Hear from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
Listen Hear: Pablo Helguera and Juan Dies perform at the ‘Librería Donceles’ from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
Listen Hear: Deantoni Parks Public Session June 17, 2016 – Full Set from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
Listen Hear facilitates an underrepresented art form, giving sound artists and experimental musicians exhibition opportunities and exposure, while simultaneously introducing sound as a material in the arts to a new, broad audience. By creating welcoming interactive and collaborative exhibitions, audiences enjoy affordable opportunities to explore sound art outside of the context of major museums or universities.
We hope our programming encourages people to begin a listening practice of their own. It is something you can always take with you! Raising an awareness of how sound informs space leads to a better appreciation for public and private places, and more begins to appear when we pay attention to the world.
Quakers meeting at Listen Hear with CJ Martin reading the iTunes Terms and Agreements from Big Car on Vimeo.
