Listen Hear

2014 - ongoing

About Listen Hear

Listen Hear an ongoing sound art project of Big Car, 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.  Exhibitions are curated by Big Car WQRT station manager, Oreo Jones.

Located at 2620 Shelby Street, it is also 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 Hear is curated by Oreo Jones.

Contact us at:

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Listen to recordings here and here. See lots of photos here.
Check out a page dedicated to our Noisy Neighbors show here.

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.

Some highlights of 2018 include:

Collectors’ Night, a night of art and entertainment before official exhibition openings, featured various Indianapolis artists, musicians, and their work. 2018 included:

  • Jacob Gardener, Make An Offer – a multimedia show that explores the depth of the human condition
  • Dana Kalachnik, Make a Man – a provocative photo series exploring masculinity
  • Terrible Tony, No Peace Inc. – a discussion on the discomfort of today’s American through 90’s pop culture iconography by
  • Carlie Foreman, Vibrate Higher – an installation using color, pattern, and sound to explore human experience
  • Jacob Mullins, One the Noise – works on paper exploring themes of absurdity, failure, and dark humor
  • Brittany Pendleton, Hands On – an exhibit of empathetic storytelling documentation through the hands in our community

General art exhibitions are curated by Big Car’s director of programming and exhibitions, Shauta Marsh, along with Listen Hear’s curatorial team and largely was made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. 2018 art exhibits for Listen Hear featured:

Having sound at its core, Listen Hear brought in an impressive mix of experimental, electronic pop, new-wave, glitch, jazz and many more musical acts. The year showcased:

  • Sometimes A Wind Blows – a live sound and art installation celebrating impermanence
  • Heart of the Ghost – an improvisational unit from the Baltimore/Washington, DC area
  • Alp Stereophonic – an electronics duo from Switzerland
  • Current State – original young electronic musicians and producers from IUPUI’s music technology program
  • Drums & Drones – a sound and light performative installation featuring drummer Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and video artist Ursula Scherrer
  • Reed Stewart –  a New York based drummer, on tour with his recent album, Mallet. Opening tunes were provided by local band, Fern Murphy
  • Drew Gowran  – solo percussionist out of St. Louis, MO touring with his new album Dismantle, featuring L.A. based experimental sound artists Justin Greene and Elizabeth Theriot
  • Spice Listening Party – Baby Ebony, DJ Shawshank, and HeyZeus (Indianapolis locals)
  • This Machine –  glitch art show including live performances by Dorian Outlaw, 1996Montana, Ke’Ondris, Mula Kkhan, and KSO-RUDE
  • Petra Glynt – Montreal-based electronic pop artist, along with locals Radar Gold
  • C.J. Boyd with Sedcairn Archives and Elk Manakin, – the experimental music  
  • IndyStar Storytellers: The Musician Edition – hip-hop by Mr. Kinetik (Frank Dean)

Listen Hear also hosted various other programming throughout 2018:

Special thanks to the artists, musicians, our partners, our community, and our staff for another exciting year of supporting sound exploration, artistic visions, and creativity at Listen Hear!

For 2018 photos you can visit here.

For 2019 upcoming events you can visit here.

Previous projects:

Listen Hear: John Collins McCormick – August 15, 2016 from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.

In 2014, Big Car — led by sound artist in resident John McCormick — opened Listen Hear 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.

Quakers meeting at Listen Hear with CJ Martin reading the iTunes Terms and Agreements from Big Car on Vimeo.