The Place Where You Go To Listen

Speaking of the Museum of the North....
There's a new permanent exhibit there, created by John Luther Adams, with lots of help from my friend Jim Altieri and others. It's amazing! -- if not in a slightly unconventional way.

They've taken the rhythms of Nature (Sun and Moon cycles, Earthquakes, The earth's magnetosphere, and more) and turned them on your ear. There's a new acoustic space in the museum, where the typically inaudable data streams from alaska are changed into sound and light.

While sitting in the room, you'll hear what may be considered a constant drone; but just wait! For, as constant as the sound may seem at first, it is constantly shifting -- in real time-- to reflect what's happening in Alaska right now. Day or night, if the aurora should dance in the sky, it will dance about aurally in the room. Earthquakes provide a somewhat arrhythmic heartbeat, as information is passed from stations throughout the interior.

It's quite a sensation; but not really an in-and-out sort of exhibit. Stop. Sit. Stare. Meditate. Pick a sound and try to follow it. Fascinating and immersive!