Antenna Lab of Norwalk Brings Statues in Britain 'to Life'

By Charlotte Longley (Open Post)

Antenna Lab in Norwalk today announced the launch of “Talking Statues” across London and Manchester in the UK – a project that brings some of the region’s most historic and iconic statues to life. Developed in conjunction with the non-profit event production company Sing London, the Talking Statues project will bring 35 statues to life through Antenna Lab’s innovative technology and a dozen of Britain’s most recognizable celebrity voices.

Through its unique use of Near Field Communication (NFC), Antenna Lab will enable curious passers-by to swipe their smart-phone over a statues’ signage, triggering a “call back” from the likes of Isaac Newton, Queen Victoria or Sherlock Holmes. A call back can also be initiated by the use of a QR code or by using a short URL that is displayed on the signage at each statue.

“Talking Statues is all about using low cost technology to give people access to art, culture and technology in streets and parks,” said Jessica Taylor, Antenna Lab Director. “The technology is intuitive, making it easy to launch a spontaneous and immersive cultural experience. Even those who already love culture and public art will appreciate seeing these statues in a totally new way. Our hope is that museums – small and large – will benefit from this pioneering approach.”

The Talking Statues project will run for one year and will be closely monitored and analysed by Leicester School of Museum Studies, gauging whether the technology can lead people to visit surrounding galleries and museums, such as Palace Galleries, the V&A, the British Library, and the National Gallery. All findings will be made publicly available to museums and galleries.

“By giving these statues something to say, we persuade people to look at them more deeply,” said Colette Hiller, Artistic Director of Sing London. “Gallery visitors typically spend, on average, a few seconds in front of a painting. Talking Statues aims to persuade visitors to spend at least 2 minutes engaging with a statue – and to inspire the visitor to want to know more.”

Sing London commissioned some of the Britain’s most celebrated writers to imagine and pen monologues for a range of iconic statues which were animated by a cast of actors and comedians, including: Dominic West, Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale, Meera Syal, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Paxman, Jacqueline Wilson, Anthony Horowitz, Tony Harrison, Timerblake Wertenbaker, Prunella Scales and Tom Conti.

Talking Statues is made possible with financial support from NESTA’s Digital R&D Fund. Additional support comes from Google Fieldtrip, and from Audible.co.uk – which is hosting a public writing competition to accompany Talking Statues. The company is inviting the public to submit their own monologues for one of four iconic statues. Winning pieces will be recorded by name actors and installed on the street by December. More details on the competition will be available at www.talkingstatues.co.uk in the coming months.

Editor’s note: This article originally was posted as an announcement in the Bulletin Board section of Norwalk Patch.