With the days finally creeping toward something resembling spring, the city’s public spaces are filling in with color, and filling in with people sharing the utmost city experience. At Philadelphia’s preeminent public space, a new art installation goes live today, but you won’t see it—and that’s intentional.
With The Empty Air, a 99¢ iPhone app officially launching today, The Mural and the Mint’s Mike Kiley presents Rittenhouse Square as a personal, sonic experience directed entirely by the user. The sound walk is GPS-based; walking through the park triggers various parts of the larger composition, which doesn’t necessarily have a beginning or an end. Walking from, for example, the corner of the park at 18th & Walnut, past the sundial sculpture and into the center of the Square, you might transition from the fade-up sound of rustling leaves, to a number that mixes church bells with a shuffling beat and bassline, to, ultimately, the “title track” of the app.
“I wanted the music to have a pop element,” Kiley says, “to be accessible, not obtuse.” Whittled down from days of recordings of the sounds in the park, Kiley and collaborators Eliza Jones (Buried Beds), Chris Ward (Pattern Is Movement), and Matthew Ricchini (Arc In Round) made music inspired by those sounds.
More over, his goal is to take smart phone technology to a place that doesn’t draw you to it. “This is an app that doesn’t require you to be engaged with your device,” he explains. “It’s technology that’s invisible and fits in your pocket.”
Kiley hopes that Rittenhouse Square is just the starting point for the sound walks. “I want my music to effect change in places that could use more foot traffic,” he notes, citing the Race Street Connector/Pier and Grays Ferry Crescent as potential future compositions.
The app, designed in partnership with South Philly’s P’unk Ave, is currently only available on iPhone, but Kiley hopes to expand to Android and other platforms soon. An opening reception for The Empty Air is at the Rittenhouse Tavern this evening at 8, with a live performance by The Mural and the Mint.
Leave a Reply
Recent Posts
Demo Prep Begins For Gothic Revival Church In West Philly
Christ Memorial Reformed Episcopal Church, a mountainous 131-year-old Gothic Revival landmark in West Philly, prepares for the end. Michael Bixler has the news > more
Ghosts Of The Abandoned Arch Street Subway Line
Harry K. takes us into the abandoned subway tunnels below Arch Street with the history behind Philly's unfinished plans for a grand underground transit system > more
Unlisted Philadelphia: Tourison Building
Ben Leech spotlights unique and significant buildings not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places with his architectural illustration series, Unlisted Philadelphia. In this installment, an Art Deco delight fills the heart of Mount Airy > more
Old Iron Works In Logan Square To Face The Wrecking Ball
When the housing bubble burst and the recession hit in 2007, plans to convert Creswell Iron Works on Cherry Street into apartments tanked. The quaint collection of industrial buildings is now headed for demolition. Michael Bixler has the details > more
American Revolution Landmark To Be Auctioned Off At Sheriff Sale
Old stone home in Frankford with ties to the Declaration of Independence goes up for auction at a sherif sale in May. Harry K. has the news and history behind this threatened national landmark > more
Time Travel At Trader Joe’s Reveals Tuxedos & Snazzy Shoes
The Shadow makes a run to Trader Joe's where fine footwear and totally awesome 1980s tuxedos kept things classy at 2121 Market Street > more