"We" is an interpretation of the childhood tin-can phone experiment, where a line of wire, string or twine is stretched between two empty cans in an effort that two people might speak to each other from across a room, yard, or playground. Their actual operation is largely based on faith, much in the same way that one hears the ocean in a seashell or tries to read the lips of strangers. The piece draws much of it's context from efforts at intimate communication and the difficulties inherent in sharing our deeper emotions within the limiting boundaries of spoken language.

More of a gesture than an operational device for communicating to one another, "We" consists of two can "phones" built into antennae-like mounts, with a line running between them and over the Bloomfield Ravine (more commonly known locally as "the Hollow") over which spans the Bloomfield Bridge. The Hollow, while geographically dividing a large section of Pittsburgh behind my home, also operates under the radar as a sort of no-man's-land and home to scores of working examples of the city's "underground" art community.

The piece is accessible from two points:

* in the Bloomfield Playground, at Dargan Street and Mott Way, near the back of the adjacent warehouse

* at the entrance to Polish Hill on Gold Way as it turns into Melwood, near the “welcome” sign

The core inspiration for "We" originally came from artist etta cetera, and the Lay Z Boyz song "Tin Can Phone Over the Hollow"... now sung with appreciative regularity by the infallible Hollow Sisters & Mr. Marcus.

Since it was installed in May, 2006, this project has weathered in interesting ways.