Sonic Forest: NYC, Pittsburg, PA

Sonic Forest – 1994
Sonic Forest was designed by Christopher Janney as a part of his effort to revitalize open spaces within the urban environment. It is composed of 25 eight-foot-tall aluminum “trees” containing audio speakers, lights and photo-electric sensors. As people pass between the “trees”, they trigger melodic and environmental sounds, creating a “sonic forest.” Depending on the time of the day, participants may also trigger preprogrammed sound patterns—for instance, a flock of frogs and crickets crawling through the open space, or a swarm of fireflies passing overhead at night.
Sonic Forest was installed at the Lincoln Center Out- of-Doors Festival in New York City and the Three River Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Project credits:
Associate Artist: Geoff Pingree, Michael Dwyer

Project sponsors:
Kurzweil Music, Inc. AB International, Apple Computer, Rockwell International/Allen Bradley Photo-Switch.