Link to New York Times video of the installation

Artist/musician David Byrne has this summer presented “Playing the Building”, a work in which the entirety of an empty ferry terminal building is converted into a musical instrument. An antique pump-style organ is used as the interface to “play” the structure- the workings of the organ have been replaced by a series of switches and relays, each connected to one of the organ’s keys. The relays in turn trigger various motors throughout the building. The sounds of the “instrument” are produced through different mechanical means, whether by striking an i-beam with an attached mallet, or by using a large piece of siding as an amplifier to sympathetically hum with an attached motor’s spinning.

“Playing the Building” ran through August 10th of this year; it is a fine example of how the use of simple components and interface mechanisms can be expanded into an installation which belies its simplicity with scale, nods toward beauty and invocation of landscape, and sheer visceral presence.