The project consists of a retrofitted antique organ, placed in the center of the building’s cavernous second-floor gallery, that controls a series of devices attached to its structural features - metal beams, plumbing, electrical conduits, and heating and water pipes. These machines vibrate, strike, and blow across the building’s elements, triggering unique harmonics and producing finely tuned sounds.
Brilliant. Check out this video to see/hear it in action.
Find out more about Playing the Buildinghere (don’t miss the interview).
UPDATE: Here is another interview with Byrne where you can hear him talk about the piece (thanks Sarah!):
David Byrne’s Playing the Building, 2008
© Justin Ouellette
To say that David Byrne is a prolific artist is an understatement. The work just keeps coming. His latest piece, a 9,000-square-foot, interactive, site-specific installation entitled Playing the Building, “transforms the interior of the landmark Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan into a massive sound sculpture that all visitors are invited to sit and ‘play.’”