The Eyes of the Many

The Eyes of the Many

The Eyes of the Many

The Eyes of the Many is an emergent public art project. It proposes a reciprocal public experience that invites serendipitous physical discovery of the works while engaging viewers with virtual content on their smartphones.

a distributed placement to be serendipitously discovered


Premise

A Recursive Gaze

We are among multitudes of beings on this planet – yet as our narcissistic gaze grows stronger, we have lost touch with our dependence on a co-existence and stewardship of a planet full of other beings... and other seeing. Birds, bees, elephants, mice, bugs, insects, and countless other creatures are with us.

The Eyes of the Many invites a reminder of this illustrious company in our midst – a gentle acknowledgement that many eyes absorb the same light bouncing off the surface of everything around us – partners in observation.

An illustration adapted from Trompe l'Oeil of an Etching by Ferdinand Bol


Concept

Reciprocal Public Engagement

The Eyes of the Many is conceived as a deconstructed, distributed mural. Illustrations of the eyes of others are transferred onto ceramic tiles and then affixed to locations throughout the local context, inviting visitors into a playful exploration of the urban landscape and serendipitous discovery.

The project turns the eye back upon itself – the object becomes the subject and vice versa. In a symbolic gesture of their presence, the work invites the multitude of non-human eyes into our midst – and opens a portal into their domains. It reminds us that we are not alone in our observations and experiences.

flamingo eye
Flamingo


Medium

Ceramic Tiles

The eyes are illustrated in linework that echoes engraving used in currency. The tiles can be produced cheaply using print-on-demand fulfillment, to create enduring, outdoor elements easily affixed anywhere.

Bullnose tile


Public Experience

Portals to Other Worlds

QR codes in the corner of the tiles are portals to anecdotal and serendipitous experiences related to the creature's world – poetry, images, video, music, live cams, facts and anecdotes – each portal leads to a unique and oblique discovery and a renewed appreciation of the world of our fellow inhabitants.

In turn, each of the individual tiles reciprocally invites us into the creatures’ context through a QR code readable by a smartphone. The links transport us into an experience related to the creature’s world.

Owl Tile –> The Owl and Pussycat by Edward Lear


Placement

A Distributed Artwork

The tiles would be placed in the context of human habitation, affixed to nooks, crannies, walls, doorways and other locations over time – an emergent public engagement, distributed art project to be discovered and explored by curious visitors. Discovering, exploring and identifying the tiles leads people through a wandering discovery of their context and the contexts of the creatures represented.



Examples

12 Tiles

The following collection of 12 tiles provides examples of the tiles and illustration treatment. The QR codes in these mock-ups connect to example content. The final content selection will be developed and curated.

Explore these QR codes with your smartphone – click an image to view the individual tile and scan the code (Note: some of these example links may contain ads - implementation would include ad-free content)