UPCLOSE FESTIVAL features SONIC HAPPENINGS – a reimagining of Bell Labs at Westbeth : Dec 27 – Jan 4,2020

Where: New Ohio Theater for Young Minds
Archive Building
154 Christopher St
NYC

When: Dec 27, 2019 – Jan 4, 2020

Tickets: $25
or by Donation for Westbeth residents.
upclosefestival.com

UPCLOSE FESTIVAL – the immersive theater festival about the West Village for New Yorkers of all ages, presents

THE SOCIETY OF HISTORIC SONIC HAPPENINGS (SHSH)

Listen closely as The Society of Historic Sonic Happenings (SHSH)
– an imagined experimental wing of the famous Bell Laboratories – reveals a secret sonic history of our surroundings.
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In 1920, as Bell Labs microphones ushered in the Golden Age of Radio, SHSH discovered that sound never dies and that the world is filled with the sounds of the past. But with the right device, at the right time, in the right place – and with some help – we can tap into these eternal frequencies and engage with the invisible layers of history around us.

The Team will work directly with SHSH scientists (Rachel Confrancisco, Brit Gossett, Alec Kirazian, LaToya Lewis and Akash Seeramreddi) to preserve these rare and forgotten sounds – from the crunch of dried tobacco leaves in Sapokanikan, the earliest known name for the area now called Greenwich Village (September 23, 1447) to the squeak of a pigeon squab on the window ledge of the 10th floor of the Archive Building (April 14th, 2017) – and work to preserve them in special sonic time capsules.
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TEAM: Adrienne Kapstein (lead artist), Bhurin Sead (sound design), Hillary Verni (visual design) and researcher Paul Parkhill (co-founder of public art non-profit Place in Histor