From Tweet to the Street #discuss

“We’re trying to capture that most intangible thing: public conversation,” says Michael Williams, director of The Wheeler Centre. For its latest project, #discuss, The Wheeler Centre is inviting the public to tweet topics it believes need to be talked about. The project shares an affinity with street art; a selection of tweets from the project will be turned into plaques affixed to walls around the city. The point is to start conversations.

All sorts of plaques have already gone up; some political and provocative, (think the budget, climate change, refugee policy), while others are straight-up bizarre (think the metaphysical nature of a pineapple).

Overall around 100 tweets will be immortalised in plaque form. But there’s no telling how long these inherently temporary statements will last. Some have already disappeared. “The plaques are supposed to be a trigger rather than an end in itself,” explains Williams, “So, the hope is some of them will stay up, but the thing that’s delighted us … is that the discussion is taking up a life of its own.”

So far Williams is thrilled with how the project is going. “We’re coming up with a fascinating snapshot of where Melbourne’s at right now.”

If you’ve got something you think needs discussing, you know what to do: #discuss.

#discuss runs until June 8. To see what others have been tweeting click here. To find out more about the project click here. To find out more about The Wheeler Centre click here.