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Parsons Creates Musical Translation of Fifth Avenue Block

By DNAinfo Staff on May 16, 2011 3:32pm

By Olivia Scheck

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — A Fifth Avenue block has become an experimental testing-ground for a new exhibit at Parsons The New School of Design.

Noise, color, cell phone use, and a range of other factors occurring on Fifth Avenue between East 12th and East 13th streets will be measured and translated into sounds and images as part of the exhibit, to run through May 22.

What results will be streamed live on the project's website and projected after dark on a screen outside the Parsons building, on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 13th Street. To hear the musical translation of what is happening in the surrounding area, passersby can plug their headphones into the wall.

"We want people to engage with their cities in a way they never have before," said Travis Olson, whose company, mono, helped create the project. "Taking a typical city block and shifting how we view it opens a world of possibilities for interpretation. It's a sophisticated, yet simple, way to understand the design-focused learning happening at Parsons."

Beginning May 16, the artists will conduct a series of experiments designed to alter the atmosphere of the block and, in turn, the audio-visual translation.

One of the experiments, to take place May 18 at 10 a.m., will flood the block with the sounds of blackbirds; another will turn the block's parking spaces into picnic grounds.

For a full list of experiments or to view the streaming visualizer, go to www.soundaffectsnyc.com.