A new art installation has brought the little-heard sounds of Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel construction to the surface.

Hexadeca, at Federation Square, features 16 spinning seats that light up and play music featuring the noises of pumps, drills and massive tunnel-boring machines from the mammoth project underneath the city’s streets.

Each evening, Hexadeca turns Fed Square into a sound and light experience. The seats light up and play music when people sit in them and spin.

Hexedeca’s creators, Joren Dawson and Jascha Boyce from Adelaide-based creative studio Pulsing Heart, describe the project as a “music-making playground art installation”.

“It brings people together through play and common experience and being able to make music,” Dawson said. “There is no greater meaning besides an experience that is for everyone.”

Dawson said the installation, which is part of Melbourne’s Fringe Festival, encourages participation because it doesn’t function unless people interact with it. “The whole thing sparks some joy.”

Dawson and Boyce’s aim is to engage commuters and curious passers-by.

“We really see these big art projects as being great for public life and spaces and making peoples’ days better,” Dawson said. “We get people involved who are not everyday art connoisseurs.”