Update, 6/5: Added Video, bottom of the post.

Playing the Building, a 9,000-square-foot, interactive, site-specific installation by David Byrne in the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan. The project consists of a retrofitted antique organ, placed in the center of the building’s cavernous second-floor gallery, that controls a series of devices attached to its structural features—metal beams, plumbing, electrical conduits, and heating and water pipes.

I loved having access to the Battery Maritime Building, but the organ as an actual musical instrument left much to be desired. The keys, especially the ones that banged on things were often unresponsive (the solenoids tap on things that swing like a pendulum) often leaving you tapping away and not getting a sound. But I imagine if left to play with it for a longer than I felt comfortable doing with a long line waiting behind me and learning its quirks, I could get something going eventually. Don’t get me wrong this event brought to you by the great folks at Creative Time is awesome. Go check it out, weekends until August.
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12 to 6pm May 31–August 10, 2008 - The Battery Maritime Building, 10 South Street, NYC