From the class Time · Spring 2020
Hess Triangle Sound Walk
Start at the door of 51 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014
Press play when the pedestrian crosslight turns white across 7th Ave S.
This sound walk and project are an exploration of The Hess Triangle and the history of Christopher Street and 7th Ave S, where it is located.
I chose to research the Hess triangle because it holds a light-hearted, funny and spiteful story of a New York City family fighting with the government over a negligibly small piece of land. It was something that was not too serious, did not hold much weight but also it was something that most people walked over every day and surely know nothing about. The story also resonated with me because I, just like the Hess family am very motivated through spite to go out of my way to do ridiculous things.
Starting off the project I visited the triangle and was immediately surrounded by the sound of a subway train passing underfoot near the triangle and recorded it.
After my first field visit, I began to conduct more formal research and found out that the main reason the triangle even exists is related to the train that caught my ear in the first place. The building that once stood where the triangle is today was demolished to build the train station underneath.
Once my research had been concluded I started to think about the format of my walk. Originally I wanted to go through an acted out history of the Hess Triangle where you could hear the Hess family, demolition of the building, construction of the train, trains passing by, court gavels and so on. This format heavily relied on dialogue however and would require the help of others. I employed the help of three friends to help me with voice acting. This, however, did not go as planned, my friends weren’t very helpful and actually quite distracting. I got nothing done and needed to go with Plan B. I did a narrated history of the location and chose instead to focus on timing. I wanted to recreate the magic moment’s I felt in Janet Cardiff’s “Her Long Black Hair” such as being told strollers would be somewhere and then actually being there.
To achieve this unmistakable timing I went to the location for a second field visit and conducted several recordings. First, I recorded how long the cross light remained white and then how long it stayed red. Next, I explored which subway entrances connected to each other and what conditions they were in. Finally, once I investigated all possible route options and repetitive constant actions around which I could build my walk I did a test run and recorded myself walking at a steady pace and describing out loud everything that I walked by as I passed it.
This audio recording served as the barebones of my project and what I built everything around. I put this barebones audio in track two. I overlayed my narration on track one and I put all of the background noise on track 3. My favorite piece in the whole walk and the most fun to edit was the descent into the Christopher Street station, the walk through it and the ascent back out. Telling from the reactions during my presentation this also seemed to be the most notable part to listen to.
In the end, I think I achieved my goal of lining up reality with my audio tour however I have some goals set up for if I ever delve into a similar venture again. I would want to attempt to add more fiction into the piece, more in line with my original idea.
Copied from my Learning Portfolio: Present-ing History: Soundwalk of the Hess Triangle (February 25, 2020).