Robert Curgenven

Pailliún Aeir i bhFoirm Oscailte Cóbh (Cobh Open Form Pavilion of Air) 2023; fuaim, ré athraitheach (2023; sound, duration variable)

Location: Naval Pier, between SIRIUS and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park; access via
the stairs to the right of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park beside SIRIUS

Launch: Thursday, 7 September, 7pm
In conversation with the artist: Saturday, 16 September, 3pm

Pailliún Aeir i bhFoirm Oscailte Cóbh (Cobh Open Form Pavilion of Air) is a floating roof of sound extending over Naval Pier, between SIRIUS and Kennedy Park, and is accessed via a smartphone, headphones and the echoes.xyz app. This public commission for SIRIUS is inspired by Polish architects Oskar & Zofia Hansen’s “Open Form” architectural concept (ca.1959) and is one of 15 locations in 9 countries in the pan-European “Open Form Pavilion of Air” series. Each of these works use sound and site-mapping to offer a playful renewal and reframing of public space as an essential place of engagement for the community.

By walking through different zones along Cobh Pier while using their smartphone, the echoes.xyz app and headphones, visitors become participatory listeners producing a composition in real-time. Their navigation creates a unique choreography via GPS, combining and changing sounds mapped along Naval Pier through the app. Visitors hear the harbourside location become transformed by the many sounds forming this floating acoustic architecture, revealing an immersive, profoundly spatial and physical experience.

Pailliún Aeir i bhFoirm Oscailte Cóbh (Cobh Open Form Pavilion of Air) has no visible presence outside the echoes.xyz app and can only be accessed on-site.

Robert Curgenven produces albums, performances, and installations emphasising physicality, our embodied response to sound and its correspondence to location, air, weather, and architecture. His festival appearances include Sydney Festival, Maerzmusik (Kraftwerk Berlin), and Cork Midsummer Festival, and he has produced works for the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Poland, and National Sculpture Factory, Ireland.

Pailliún Aeir i bhFoirm Oscailte Cóbh (Cobh Open Form Pavilion of Air) is commissioned by SIRIUS, Cobh, and presented as part of Sounds from a Safe Harbour, Cork.