Do you remember reading 3-D pop-up books as a child? I always found it so amazing when the scenes would literally unfold right before my eyes. Photographer Jana Mahoney and I traveled down to the Bywater to visit The Music Box, a Prospect 2 exhibit, and it was a similar feeling: the property is full of asymmetrical, oddly shaped shacks, ramps, porch swings, nooks and crannies – even a bathtub, right in the middle of the outdoors! There was so much to discover, and all of it is interactive, free – excluding the performance on December 10 – and open to the public.
One of the houses turned instruments in The Music Box village (Jana Mahoney)
The Music Box is a creation of Brooklyn-based artist Swoon, who is best known for creating boats that most recently floated the waters in Venice, Italy. This project serves as a sort of test for a permanent “sound sculpture” called “Dithyrambalina” that will exist after The Music Box is broken down. Swoon worked with New Orleans Airlift, an arts organization founded by Jay Pennington & Delaney Martin, to bring this project to life. Ultimately, it was decided that a group of 23 artists, local and beyond, would each be given the chance to design a structure housing an instrument.
The end result of the collaboration between the group of artists is a series of shacks, built mainly from the remains of a collapsed Bywater cottage, with each structure offering an interactive musical experience. When we arrived, people were milling in and out of each structure and children were running around, testing each instrument. We first walked up a ramp into what felt like a tree house.
I looked out over all of the shacks and saw speakers rotating on top of one house, connected to a stethoscope projecting applied heartbeats over the property. There were “drums” that looked like sturdy, ceiling-fan structures; a white-lace, umbrella shaped, hoop-skirt construction that had bells, pill bottles, keys, lights, and other odds and ends looped around the inside that you could tinker with; a spiral staircase with pedals on each step, functioning as a pipe organ activated by the pressure of your feet, and so much more.
There are maps of the layout, patches and mix tapes available for sale at a small table as you enter The Music Box, keepsakes you’ll want to use as evidence to show friends and family. I would highly recommend checking out the upcoming (and last) live musical performance on December 10. See the official website for details and to purchase tickets. Local celebrity and renowned musician Quintron will be conducting the group. The address is 1027 Piety Street and this will be your last weekend to see The Music Box before it is closed to the public: plan to go Friday between 12-5 p.m. or on Saturday for the final performance.
All photos by local photographer Jana Mahoney.
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