At Conflux City
September 20, 2009
Location: in and around Tompkins Square Park
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Please speak softly into the instrument.
Because worms hear through their skin,
the vibration of your voice will be heard.
Say what you like, whistle, hiss, hum, grunt
or recite a poem. Try to charm the worms,
for if you are patient, our friends will
rise to the surface.
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THE WORM WAGON
This project is a portable voice activated, vibrational, instrument (in a red wagon) that allows one to commune with worms. I pulled the wagon to different locations during Sunday’s Conflux City. Inviting one and all to use their voice, to talk, hum, sing, or in some way to coax and charm the subterranean inhabitants of the city, to rise to the surface. We have much in common with the earthworm. Worms respond to vibration, such as the patter of rain or the pecking of the birds on the earth. Humans also communicate with vibration, via the vibrating folds of the larynx and the vibration of sound transmitted through the air. Most of the city’s earth is compressed due to architecture and construction, but at certain areas such as parks, cracks in the pavement, under rocks and patches around trees, there is good chance that worms may be present and “listening”.
