Paul Elliman assembled a program for Performa entitled Sirens Taken for Wonders which consisted of several walks around New York City in search of sirens while observing and testing the impact of noise on urban life and culture. Elliman also convened a panel at the Van Allen Institute in order to "address the apparently unambiguous meaning of the sirens through a range of sometimes contradictory perspectives–from the physics and acoustic materiality of their sound, to its auditory role in the production of urban space as a form of audio signage capable of initiating levels of both fear and excitement." We have divided the program into two segments:/>/>
Part 1 (72 minutes): Paul Elliman presents his Sirens Taken for Wonders premise, vocalist Daisy Press' remarkable mimicking of sirens, artist Raviv Ganchrow of The Hague Institute of Sonology, and the remarkable Arline Bronzaft who is Chair of the Noise Committee from the Mayor’s Committee on the Environment of New York City./>/>
Part 2 (43 minutes): Laura Kurgan, Director of the Spatial Information Design Lab of the Columbia School of Architecture, and artist Lázaro Valiente from Mexico City who composed and directed a quartet of police cars and sirens there, which we get to hear./>/>
Both segments begin with an on-site sampling of the "Siren Walks" with our correspondent Delphine Blue accompanying Elliman and his crew of experts and afficionados
Originally aired 12/4/09
http://clocktower.org/show/performa-2009-paul-elliman-sirens-taken-for-wonders