In 1997, before MASSMoCA opened, Director Joe Thompson decided to activate the town of North Adams with sound art.
O+A noticed that the town and museum were divided by Highway 2 overpass, and the resulting road noise coming from the bridge made this division worse. They decided to bridge this division with harmony. They installed two 16 foot “tuning tubes”on the bridge to generate harmony in response to the sound of passing traffic. . The transformed sound plays back through two specially designed “Cube” loudspeakers beneath the bridge. The “Cubes” create omnidirectional domes of sound which activate the found “gothic” acoustics under the bridge. The installation has been transforming noise into harmony for 20 years now.
O+A made this video for those who want details but cannot visit the bridge