cecilia nercasseau gibson's fonópticos frames connect users to the urban landscape

as part of the 2014 art festival of valparaíso in chile, artist cecilia nercasseau gibson has created the ‘fonópticos’ as a connective installation composed of two metal cones. each piece is situated on one side of the concepción hill, separated by a distance of 100 meters and linked through visual and accoustic manifestations. the person introduces their head inside one cone, catching the echo of the urban landscape as well as the voice of the individual in the opposite fonóptico — without the need to yell.

 looking out from the concepción hill

the whole idea behind gibson‘s work is to create a cinematographic experience in the urban landscape. but how can one clearly connect two parts that are already visually linked? hence, the first step was to provide the impression of a real-time movie: looking through a camera while hearing what was going around. surprisingly, the idea had a particularity that was not seen before — which was the opportunity to communicate with each other in a very long distance, to be able to chat with one another from across. 

‘this point made everything more interesting because you could actually watch the live movie, what was happening on the other side, but also be part of it. on one hand, it has this performative dimension while on the other it appears to be more contemplative and passive ,’ notes gibson. 

the whole view frame from cerro alegre

looking to the opposite fonóptico on cerro concepción 

fonóptico on concepción hill

fonóptico on cerro alegre next to the reina victoria elevator

visitors gathering around the cone on alegre hill

looking to the opposite fonóptico on cerro alegre

metal cone on concepción as seen from from the street below 

during the festival of arts FAV 2014

architectural drawing

photomontage showing the fonóptico on alegre hill

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom