Proposal accepted for 2011 Art on the BeltLine

Concept rendering for Musical Landscapes

My temporary public-art proposal for the 2011 Art on the BeltLine, Musical Landscapes, has been accepted by the selection committee. I'm very excited to be a part of this project!

It was inspired by childhood memories of clacking sticks against fences as I ran along them.

Excerpts from my proposal's statement:

Concept Statement

Actions

A series of vertical tubes line a length of BeltLine trail. Walkers, runners, or bikers may use either their hands or provided sticks to strike the tubes as they pass by. The tubes are cut to different lengths and tuned to specific pitches.

Overview

Musical Landscape is a participatory site-specific installation, where a series of vertical hollow tubes are cut to reflect the skyline behind them, be it natural or urban. By adjusting tube lengths, they can be tuned to the closest pitch in a harmonious musical scale. The tubes then become a musical instrument, tuned to the local environment, and participants can “play the landscape” that surrounds them.

Concept and Goals

As a visual artist and musician, I am endlessly fascinated by the acoustical properties of materials and how they are directly affected be their environment. Steel formed into a string and attached to a cello has a very different sound when struck than a steel fence post driven into concrete, yet both are musical in their own way. Musical Landscape is an attempt to make audible the beauty inherent in a visual landscape while simultaneously evoking childhood memories of clacking sticks against fence-posts as we ran past them, seeking youthful adventure.
The musical pitches of each installation would reflect its surrounding environment. City skylines might evoke a bustling major-key tonality, while residential neighborhoods may elicit a more serene minor key.