During my day trip last April to the Hyattsville Arts District I happened upon "Hyattsville Horn Section: An Urban Musical Instrument", an interactive performance sculpture, designed and created by Christopher Janney.Located on the grassy area at the corner of Farragut and Rhode Island Avenue in front of the County Service Building in the City of Hyattsville, anchoring the Hyattsville end of the Gateway Arts District corridor, the Hyattsville Horn Section: An Urban Musical Instrument creates a "sonic portrait" of Prince George's County.
Composed of 5 colorful independent 9ft horn instrument forms spaced so people can walk among them, a map of the County is embedded in the instruments. A series of "hand plates", when touched, illuminates and the instruments play a sound or group of sounds from a "sound bank" -- representative of a combination of environmental, historical and melodic sounds significant to the County and its impact on the region.
A County-specific riddle is engraved on a stainless steel plaque at the center of the sculpture. When the riddle is deciphered and "hand plates" are touched in the correct pattern, the instruments will play a saxophone "short" in reply. The sculpture is lit from dusk to dawn.
Installed in the Spring 2004 and dedicated 23 June 2005, interactive performance sculpture is lit from dusk to dawn.
Mr. Janney combines more than 20 years of background in architecture and jazz music to create performance sculpture. A M.S. in Environmental Art from MIT, B.A. in Architecture and Visual Arts from Princeton University and having studied at the Dalcroze School of Music in New York - his interactive, musical and colorful works can be seen in public places ranging from public libraries, the Miami International Airport, and in the New York City Subway.
Visit his website at www.janney.com. Click photo to view my Hyattsville Horn Section: An Urban Musical Instrument by Christopher Janney photoset. See photo at Hyattsville MD at Yahoo-Travel.
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