Last stop, Sydney...next stop, Beijing

The sounds, if not the sights, of the Olympic spirit will return to Sydney Olympic Park through an innovative College of Fine Art (COFA) art installation.

Artist and COFA lecturer, Allan Giddy, has been commissioned by The Sydney Olympic Park Authority to make his innovative proposal a reality. It involves internet streaming live ambient sound from one of Beijing's major railway stations to the public address system at the Sydney Olympic Park station.

Coinciding with the games in Beijing, the installation will use existing physical structures and ambient noise to compare the contradictory nature of the two Olympic venues.

"The fullness, bustle and excitement of the station in Beijing will be transported to the comparative emptiness of Sydney Olympic Park station," said Mr Giddy.

"I'm examining how Olympic host cities become the centre of the world's attention - filled with importance - then move to another location, leaving an empty shell in its wake."

Dr Vaughan Rees, Director of International at COFA, believes the artwork will create an important cultural link between the two Olympic cities.

"Visitors to Sydney's Olympic Park will respond to the layer of sound resonating from a familiar event in a foreign place. The sound installation will evoke a personal and emotional response from the public by combining sport and art, past and present with sound."

Mr Giddy will reside in Beijing until 12 May at the Dagaocun Arts District, which offers an artists-in-residence programme for international artists.