moradavaga’s giant yellow characters are acoustically interconnected in square in sweden

moradavaga’s Hej främling! activates square in sweden

A family of giant, friendly characters made of yellow corrugated plastic tubes stand among the crowd in the Våghustorget square in Örebro, Sweden, bringing together visitors in a playful way. The interactive public art installation Hej främling! (Hey stranger!) has been conceived by design collective Moradavaga for the 2022 edition of OpenArt, Scandinavia’s largest contemporary art event, activating the busy square in a ‘provocative’ display. Working as an interconnected analogue acoustic system, Hej främling! encourages communication between strangers and friends alike, through a connected system of pipes that allow visitors to speak to one other from one end of the square to the other.

a family of acoustically interconnected yellow characters

Moradavaga’s installation presents an ensemble of acoustically interconnected, cartoon-like characters which occupy Våghustorget, one of the city’s busier squares. Built mainly out of corrugated yellow plastic tubes, the figures appear as ‘a colorful group or family of funny foreigners, that could be seen as friendly aliens from outer space, or blown-out-of-proportion bugs with human expressions’.

In an ongoing exploration of the ‘string phone’, the design collective here too employs a similar strategy to allow visitors to communicate with one another from opposing ends of the square through the characters. Presenting an alternative interactive and provocative strategy to activate public spaces, the concept establishes an analogical communicational game. Echoing the childhood tin can telephone device with a connecting string or wire, Hej främling! allows visitors to converse with one another through the large weaving pipes and the figures’ mouths and eyes. Strangers and friends are encouraged to interact, engage in entertaining conversation, and form new acquaintances through the installation.

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project info:

name: Hej främling!
designer: Moradavaga

location: Örebro, Sweden

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