04-16-2011, 11:05 AM
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#59 (permalink)
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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Alexander Chen’s “ Conductor” uses realtime data on the MTA’s subway schedule to turn Massimo Vignelli’s iconic NYC subway map
into an interactive string instrument.
author's comments: The piece follows some rules. Every minute, it checks for new trains launched from their end stations. The
train then moves towards the end of the line, with its speed set by the schedule’s estimated trip duration. Some decisions were
made for musical, aesthetic, and technical reasons, such as fading out routes over time, the gradual time acceleration, and limiting
the number of concurrent trains. Also, I used the weekday schedule. Some of these limitations result in subtle variations, as different
trains are chosen during each 24-hour loop.
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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi
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