In this podcast you will learn how sound-led public artworks can turn everyday places into shared, playable environments. In this interview Michael Baker is the Sound Director at Daily tous les jours we explore some of the thinking behind Daily Tous Les Jours’ public artworks. Daily tous les jours is known for large-scale participatory works such as Musical Swings, as well as their book Strangers Need Strange Moments Together, which reflects on designing interaction in public space. This interview is the first in a series that focuses on media art works in public space.

Listen to this podcast to learn about:

• Why music acts as “social glue” in public space and how it supports relationality

• How the Musical Swings series of works map movement and synchrony into musical structure

• Designing interactions that are legible without instructions

• Low-tech prototyping methods (before code) that test the real experience

• The differences between touring works and permanent outdoor installations

• Common failure points in public work: weather, wear, and mechanical/electronic overlap

• Why the “artwork” is ultimately the people using the piece, together

Chapters

(00:00:00) Finding the hidden rhythm: sound between chaos & musical order

(00:00:24) Welcome + acknowledgement of country

(00:00:48) Series kickoff: Media art in public spaces (meet Daily tous les jours)

(00:01:40) Michael Baker’s role: Why audio is the perfect public-space interface

(00:02:44) “Make sure it makes music”: Music as social glue & pre‑verbal play

(00:05:24) Accidental encounters: The magic of unexpected public art

(00:06:22) Case study: Musical swings—wonder, all ages, all walks of life

(00:07:38) Sync & sway: How the swings create emergent harmony (tech + behavior)

(00:09:56) From mirror neurons to intimacy: Why we copy each other

(00:10:41) Interactive pavement: Grid rhythms, emergent rules & dancing together

(00:11:48) No instructions needed: Designing clear, simple gestures

(00:13:45) Prototyping at scale: Iteration, tape-on-the-ground tests & deadlines

(00:16:13) Tweak vs deliver: Working with clients, museums & touring constraints

(00:17:51) Testing with fresh eyes: First-time users as the real benchmark

(00:19:25) Temporary vs permanent: Durability, public “hacks,” and extreme weather

(00:21:41) Platforms & toolchains: MAX/MSP, TouchDesigner, and choosing what fits

(00:23:50) What public media art really is: The artwork is the people

(00:25:29) Wrap-up, thanks, and share the show

About Daily tous les jours

Daily tous les jours is a Montreal-based art and design studio that creates interactive installations in public spaces. Founded in 2010 by Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat, the studio is known for large-scale participatory works such as Musical Swings. Their projects use technology, music and movement to bring strangers together and transform everyday urban spaces into sites of collective experience.

About Michael Baker

Michael Baker is the Sound Director at Daily tous les jours, where he oversees the sonic landscape of the studio’s interactive installations. In his role, he develops sound palettes, generative compositional systems, and integrated audio environments that respond to movement and collective behaviour in public space.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in electroacoustics from Concordia University. An accomplished electroacoustic composer, his work has been presented at international festivals including the 60x60 Festival (Canada/US), the Livewire Festival (Maryland), and the Canadian Electroacoustic Community Symposium (Montreal).

Links from the podcast:

• Learn more about Daily Tous Les Jours
• Learn more about 21 Balançoires (musical swings)
• Read Strangers Need Strange Moments Together

In this podcast you will learn how media artists stay with uncertainty, make deliberate choices with technology, and build work through collaboration—with people, place, ecology, and time.

This is a 2025 compilation episode, bringing together the advice I ask for at the end of every conversation on Creating New Spaces. Across the year, artists returned to a few shared concerns: how to keep going when meaning arrives slowly, how to test and refine work without being led by the tools, and how installation practice is shaped by teams, trust, and the systems around us.

Listen to this podcast to learn about:

• How to stay with the work when it’s unclear, slow, or shifting

• How to make with machines through testing, revision, and refinement

• How media work becomes shared — through collaboration, community, and ecology

• Guests featured

  Johan F Karlsson, Ariana Gerstein, Monteith Mccollum, Matt Warren, Rita Eperjesi, Georgie Friedman, Matthew Ragan, Troy Merritt, Darryl Rogers, Alex Moss, Maggie Jeffries, and Keith Armstrong

  Chapters

  (00:00:00) Intro: staying, making, connecting

  (00:00:52) Staying with the work: pace, patience, resilience (Johan, Ariana, Matt, Rita)

  (00:05:51) Making with machines: testing, tools, refinement (Georgie Friedman, Matthew, Troy)

  (00:09:34) Making with others: teams, shared practice, impact (Darryl Rogers, Alex and Maggie, Keith)

  (00:14:17) Closing

  Links from the podcast

  Guests

  • Johan F Karlsson— website
  • Ariana Gerstein — website
  • Matt Warren— website
  • Rita Eperjesi — website
  • Georgie Friedman — website
  • Matthew Ragan — website
  • Troy Merritt / Soma Lumia — website
  • Darryl Rogers — website
  • Alex Moss — website
  • Maggie Jeffries — website
  • Keith Armstrong — website

  • Projects and organisations mentioned

    • The Weather at Midnight
    • Moonah Arts Centre
    • Dissolution
    • Lacuna

In this podcast you will learn how artists Alex Moss and Maggie May Jeffries developed a shared creative process that bridges traditional painting and interactive media.

In this interview, Alex Moss and Maggie Jeffries discuss the creative process behind The Weather at midnight. The exhibition combines painting, projection, and real-time interaction to create a shifting environment of light and movement. Through subtle digital overlays and live painting, static canvases become dynamic, evolving works that change with audience presence. The exhibition was presented at Moonah Arts Centre.

Alex Moss is a Lutruwita/Tasmanian-based media artist whose work transforms spaces through projected light, sound design, and interactive elements. Maggie May Jeffries is a painter from Lutruwita/Tasmania whose practice explores memory, environment, and sensory experience through layered, detailed compositions.

Listen to this podcast to learn about:

• The role of experimentation, trust, and structure in cross-disciplinary collaboration, and how shared workshops shaped Alex and Maggie’s evolving process.
• How data, audience presence, and live performance intertwined during the exhibition.
• What “slow noticing” reveals about time, attention, and the perception of creative work.

Chapters

(00:00:00) Introduction to artist collaboration

(00:01:18) Meet Maggie and Alex

(00:01:52) The weather at midnight project

(00:04:17) Audience experience and interaction

(00:05:51) Inspiration and process

(00:09:11) Live painting and performance

(00:18:06) Workshops and collaboration

(00:23:26) Future directions and advice

(00:25:13) Conclusion and farewell

About Alex Moss

Alex Moss is a media artist based in Lutruwita/Tasmania and a member of Second Echo Ensemble. With over ten years of experience, his work spans projection, sound design, and interactive installation, transforming spaces through light and sensory engagement. He has created work for the University of Tasmania, Hobart City Council, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and the Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival. Alex received the 2023 Best Sound Design Professional Theatre Award for Outside Boy with Second Echo Ensemble.

About Maggie Jeffries

Maggie May Jeffries is a painter based in Lutruwita/Tasmania and a member of Second Echo Ensemble. Her practice explores memory, place, and the natural environment through layered paintings that merge observation with imagination. She graduated with First Class Honours in Fine Art and Psychology from the University of Tasmania in 2022. Represented by Despard Gallery, she received the NEXT Award in 2018 and was a finalist in the 2024 Women’s Art Prize Tasmania.

Links from this podcast with Alex Moss and Maggie Jeffries

• Visit Moonah Arts Centre
• Explore Moonah Arts Centre’s exhibition page for The weather at midnight
• Visit Alex Moss’ website
• Follow Alex Moss on Instagram
• Learn more about Maggie May Jeffries at Despard Gallery
• Follow Maggie May Jeffries on Instagram