Sunday, April 19, 2015

sounding infrastructure

Pneumatic tubes have often been a source of inspiration for artists, such as Serge Spitzer, Niklas Roy, Yvonne Lee Schultz and Vittore Baroni. The other day I came across another pneumatic art installation: Playing the Building by David Byrne.


In this stunning looking sound installation, a retrofitted organ becomes connected to a building's infrastructure, playing it like an enormous instrument. Through pneumatic tubes and wires and cables, the organ is attached to metal beams and pillars and heating pipes, causing them to vibrate and resonate in order to produce sound. 


The installation was first exhibited in Stockholm in 2005, then later in New York City (2008), London (2009) and Minneapolis (2012).

Images from Flikr, used under the Creative Commons lisence, from Quinn Heraty, Russ Garrett, JellyBeanz, and Chris Guy.

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