Picture this: A bed with built in speakers that allows you to listen to and feel the music. That’s what this permanent installation is in the loft of Brooklyn-based arts center ISSUE Project Room. It’s currently open on most afternoons from Tuesday to Friday 12PM-4PM and evenings from 7:30PM-8:30PM, should you want to go and bed down in music from one of the specially commissioned composers. The piece is called Sonic Bed_Martha and is a localized version of Sonic Bed_London which was also conceived by artist Kaffe Matthews. Versions of the sonic bed have appeared around the world in London, Shanghai, Taipei, Quebec, Scotland, and now New York. It’s part of a bigger project by Music For Bodies, who look at embedding music in non-traditional spaces (past projects have included sonic benches and armchairs). They say of the sonic bed:The Sonic Bed is a purpose built portable venue which plays music that moves for the prone bodies of an audience, who can come lie in the bed alone or together.It is a sonic and social experiment exploring our perception of sound, presenting an oversized bed as a polished wooden tank with steps to climb up to get in it. Visitors are invited to remove their shoes and come lie on and enjoy specially constructed pieces moving up and down and around their bodies. Subtle, dynamic, at times beyond hearing, Sonic Bed plays music to feel rather than just listen to.Sonic Bed is also an instrument, to be played by anyone who is interested as well as commissioned composers to make pieces for it using the specially developed software interface.
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