A Newcastle sound artist is set to bring a bit of free fun to Charlestown.
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Huw Jones will turn common objects like handrails, plants and power poles along Pearson Street into "touch-activated electronic instruments using conductivity technology".
"In Australia and a lot of western countries, you have to go indoors to experience or take part in an activity," Huw said.
"You need to go through a door, you need a ticket, you need to be dressed the right way, you need to pass a threshold to experience an idea or something creative."
In many Hispanic, Asian and European countries, though, "the action is on the street, the markets are on the street".
"In the Middle East, the music and art are on the street, the community is free to engage with it at their own will," he said.
His art project aims to put culture and activity on the street that's "free for people to enjoy and take part in".
"There will be a few objects close together. If two or three people walk through the area together, they might discover they can arrange a tune or jam together," he said.
"It'll be interesting to see how people arrange themselves in the space, once the sound is there."
The section of Pearson Street in which the art will be installed is opposite a scrap metal yard and surrounded by office buildings and shopping centre walls and a car park.
Charlestown Square has previously added some splashes of orange paint and an ivy-covered wall to bring a bit of colour and nature to the street. The art project - to be powered by renewable energy - will add some activity and vibrancy.
Huw's project is one of several artworks that Lake Macquarie City Council has commissioned under its Charlestown Create project. The state government has also chipped in for the artworks through its Stronger Country Communities Fund.
Artist Alex Umpe will create a night-time animated artwork that will light up the facade of a building across from Charlestown Square.
A large interactive lighting project that uses motion-tracking sensors to detect pedestrians and translate their movement into light trails will also be installed.
The artworks are planned to begin in May, with all three due for completion by September.
Sounds like something a bit different, eh.
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Mosquitoes are, apparently, the biggest killer of humans in this day and age.
Since 2000, an average of 2 million people a year were killed by mozzies through the diseases they spread [think malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and zika]. The next biggest killer of humans was, in fact, humans. They came second with 475,000 lives taken. Snakes were third, taking about 50,000 human lives. Dogs and sandflies took 25,000 human lives each.
Oh, we also came across some research that found mosquito coils have some pretty dodgy insecticides and chemicals in them.
You wouldn't want to breathe much of that stuff in, by the sounds.
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A Topics spy has suggested a new brand: "Suss Ex-Royal".