ART

Talking Heads
acrylic, fiberglass, LED lighting

Manila, The Philippines —JEFRË (Jefrë Manuel Figueras) has just created Talking Heads, a permanent installation featuring six large sculptures in the lobby of SM Prime’s Five Ecom Center Building in Manila, The Philippines. JEFRË is the first  artist to have work commissioned by SM Prime, which is one of the largest real estate  developers in Southeast Asia.

The six sculptures resemble expressionless human heads. Each head wears a different colored headset. Measuring 6 feet in height and 5 feet in width, the hollow heads are made from clear acrylic panels and are hung from the ceiling of two opposite lobbies.

Visitors wishing to speak to customer service representatives from businesses located within this building may step inside any of these heads and do so via built-in speakers. “The inspiration came to me from the concept of the unknown workforce, an idea that came to me when I visited the building,” the artist explains. The installation evokes an image of a call center employee and embodies the faceless, robotic voice encountered in corporate customer service. 

Jefrë Manuel Figueras, known as JEFRË, is a noted public artist from Chicago. Educated in the Arts and Landscape Architecture, he has always been interested in creating spatial experiences. He is recognized for creating spaces that are original, forward thinking and unexpected. He has constructed several large-scale site-specific artworks in cities around the world including London, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Abu Dhabi, and San Antonio.

AboutJEFRË

JEFRË studied at the Art Institute of Chicago prior to receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from Ohio State University. JEFRË was named one of seven "Faces of Design for 2007" by Florida Inside Out architecture magazine for his environmental art and couture landscapes. As a designer and public art initiator, his design solutions originate from a deep understanding of the historical, environmental, social and contextual relationships influencing the site and the architecture. In 2008, JEFRË launched his own couture landscape and public art studio with a focus on environmental art, green roofs, boutique plazas and parks and public art master plans. He was selected by the prestigious Marlborough Gallery in New York City as an “Up and Coming International Public Artist” and chosen by the Lexus Corporation to be the sixth member of their ECO Hybrid Living National Design Team to design environmental conscious carbon neutral environments. JEFRË is passionate about sharing his public art initiative through his line of new interactive designs and upcoming public art projects.