A 17-foot-long wind harp, an interactive drum totem, a mural of the endangered Right Whale…
SONIC GATES: New York City’s Sound Sculpture Walk was created by artist Volker Goetze and launched in June 2018. A team led by Goetze constructed a series of sound sculptures and a mural at various sites along the waterfront, on Bay Street, and in Tappen Park, from St. George to Stapleton. The project brought together SI MakerSpace—with sculptors including DB Lampman and Alassane Drabo—and other cultural groups to fabricate the sculptures. Additionally, school groups participated in the construction of certain works through a cooperative educational experience.
On July 14, 2018, opening performances by Dawn Crandell, James Shipp, Xi. Me. Na, Yacouba Sissoko, and Martita Abril at each public art piece led the audience along the walk. The works were on view for a year with approximately 20,000 visitors.
The eight public art installations +
2. Talking Tubes by DB Lampman, at the Barrett Triangle, is a composition of colorful PVC tubes that can be played to create percussive sounds.
3. Ballena & Vallenato (Whale and Calf) by Lina Montoya is a colorful mural on the bus shelter at Barrett Triangle that depicts the endangered Right Whale and her calf.
4. Drum Totem by Alassane Drabo, in Tompkinsville Park, is a structure of oil drums accented with found driftwood and West African drums that can be played to form a drum circle.
5. Dolphins del Fin by Lina Montoya, on a Bay Street median, is a series of dolphin and wave shaped sculptures built from recycled bottle caps that will rattle with the wind.
6. DNA (Dynamic Nature Art) by DB Lampman, in Tappen Park, is a helix of wind chimes assembled by students from PS 78 floating above the heads of its viewers.
7. Wind Harp No. 7 by Scott Van Campen, in Maker Park, is an Aeolian wind harp with steel strings that will “sing” as a result of the “von Kármán Vortex Street,”a repeating pattern of swirling vortices.
8. Float, Float, Float On by Arthur Simms, in the harbor off the Stapleton Esplanade, is a floating sculpture collaged with nautical buoys and bells that will create chords as waves splash through and around it.
