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An interactive art installation that will act like a human windchime, creating sounds in reaction to the movements of passers-by, is being planned for Cardiff city centre.

The idea is the brainchild of Neil Cocker. Although he's worked for many a year in the creative industries this project will be his first foray into the creation of an artistic installation.

I recently talked to Neil about the project, which came about, by his own admission, partly by accident.

Neil's idea for the project started with a chance conversation with Emma Price, an art consultant who works with organisations to commission art work in the public realm.

"I was chatting to Emma about interactive art and, because my background is in music, interactive audio art in particular. I was showing her a couple of videos of examples of things that I like."

This eventually led to Cocker pitching an idea for an audio artwork installation project to the board of the commissioning body, Land Securities and Capital Shopping, who jointly built and run the new shopping complex St Davids 2 in Cardiff.

The project recently got the green light, and the plan is for the audio artwork to be installed on the underpass between the two parts of the shopping centre on Hills Street, just off The Hayes.

Though the details for the project are very much subject to change at this early development stage, as Neil mentions on his website discrete rows of sensors will be installed across the thoroughfare, with each being assigned a different sound; "probably using a major , so that every note will sound pleasant and harmonic with every other."

By walking under the sensors people will interact with the installation, whether they're aware of it or not, as their movements will trigger different sounds. The theory is that passers-by will act like "a human breeze that creates a wind-chime of beautiful sounds. The busier the underpass, the heavier the 'breeze'."

The green rows show where the sensors could be installed. Photo: Neil Cocker

Although not an artist by profession, Neil said that during his pitch he tried to convey that he was interested in "bringing a small moment of joy to the day of anybody who interacts with the artwork".

"I think sometimes we can get a bit blind to static art," he said. "With something interactive, even if you interact with it unintentionally, it can make a difference.

"I'm keen for this to be an interactive artwork both while in situ but also as part of the creation of it. But also it's an ongoing creation, as there's scope to upload different sounds, whether that's different sounds for different times of day or different times of year. There's loads of ways in which people could interact with it, and there's no reason why we couldn't have people from all over the world contributing sounds."

The interactivity element is key to the installation. "Because I'm not 'an artist' and because I'm not necessarily creating something that people would look at and appraise in an artistic sense, there didn't seem to be any point in creating something other than interactive and accessible. I don't have the artistic background or ability to make something that people could appreciate from afar.

"I just want to create something cool that makes people smile. There's no other artistic agenda. If people can walk through on their way to work on a miserable morning and smile for a few seconds at the sounds of chimes or tinkling bells, that's job done as far as I'm concerned."

I'm no artist either, but I can't think of a more heart-warming, positive philosophy to have.

Neil is looking for potential collaborators with the relevant technical skills to help him get the project off the ground. For more information and to keep up-to-date with the project, visit Neil's blog, .