One Child and Some Animals - a sound portrait of domestic life from Ireland. Steyr Hospital - Austria. 2008

A sound portrait of domestic everyday sounds. A public artwork commisioned by KunstRaum Goethestrasse for the patients & visitors who use the internal garden/atrium space of the psychiatric department of Steyr Hospital.

This is the space used as a meeting place for patients and family out side of the ward environment. A hyper-natural, large internal space. Faciliting children (there is a series of concealed draws, filled with toys) and family to visit, without going into the wards.

The atrium/meeting area of the physicist facility is light filled public space. There are hard surfaces. The seating is uncomfortable. This area is filled with sounds from the hospital: foot steps over different floor surfaces. Cutlery and plates clank down on table tops. The occasional ringing of a high pitch telephone. Low level conversations. Paper crumpling. Doors open and close. The slow shuffle sliding walk of a patient. The hum of air conditioning.