Musical Swings
Lawrence, Indiana, US
Musical Swings
Detroit, New York, San José, US | Singapore, SG | +
Following the success of the 21 Swings in Montreal, a touring version of the artwork was created for the Green Box Arts festival in Colorado. The Musical Swings have since visited New York City, Detroit, West Palm Beach, Dhahran, Singapore, and continues to tour around the world.
Part of
Host city
New York, USA
Singapore, Singapore
Denver, USA
Colorado, USA
Montreal, Canada
… 5 other cities
Is this project available?
YES!
Also available as a permanent edition
Created in 2011, the installation has become a celebrated icon of Montreal’s entertainment district, returning seasonally every spring. As a result of its success, a touring version of the Musical Swings was created and has been travelling the world, receiving a number of international awards and recognitions. A new permanent version of the work is also available for cities around the world.
A living piece of art
Oprah Winfrey
21 Swings, Montreal, Canada, 2011. ©Daily tous les jours
How it works
- Each swing triggers notes from a classical instruments: piano, guitar, harp and vibraphone. A color code indicates which instrument is played and invites the public to try different seats.
- The interactive soundtrack is inspired by the pendulum. The higher the swing, the higher the note.
- When the swings move together in unison, they create a musical composition through which unique melodies can emerge if participants cooperate.
- The gentle, kinetic quality of the acoustic sounds blends seamlessly into the urban environment.
Structure overall dimensions
Length : 70’ (21 m); Width: 35’ (10.5 m); Height:12′ (3.5 m)
Safety clearance perimeter
50′ × 100′ (15 m × 30.5 m)
All components are weatherproof
Collective emotions
The Musical Swings take over public spaces with smiles and laughter. People revel at the therapeutic effect when swinging motion and collaborative music making are combined. Participants report feeling like they are making music with their entire bodies; surrendering themselves unexpectedly to a collective performance, almost as if by magic.
I have a mood disorder, I was walking downtown to relax, the swings drew me in and calmed me down. I hope they stay forever.
— From participant interviews
Impact Study
For the Musical Swings 2016 tour in the United States, Daily commissioned an independent study to analyze the economic and social impact of the temporary installation. The following are some highlights from the report.
* Study conducted during the 2016 US Tour: West Palm Beach, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; San José, California. With the support of the Knight Foundation.
- 156visitors per hour
- 226 500 visits in 3 weeks
- 4 498 000 $ economic impact over a period of 19 weeks
- 293% of return on investment
Awards and Recognitions
- Grand Prize UNESCO Shenzhen Design Award
- Knight Cities Challenge
- Global Innovators Prize Creators Project
- Oprah’s OWN
- FRAME Magazine
- Dezeen Interaction Awards
- Creators Project
- DesignBoom
- Dezeen
- Vimeo
- This is Colossal
- Best in Show IxDA Interaction Awards
- Vimeo Staff Pick
- Fast Company Innovation by Design Award
Credits
-
- A project by Daily tous les jours
-
- Created and produced with support from Quartier des spectacles in Montreal
- Creative Direction
- Mouna Andraos
- Melissa Mongiat
- Executive Producer
- Hugues Monfroy (2011)
- Antoine Clayette (2012)
- Music
- Radwan Ghazi Moumneh
- Concept Team
- Dominique Côté
- Alexandre Landry
- Yolène Leroux
- Luc-Alain Giraldeau
- Design
- Sébastien Dallaire
- Alexandre Landry
- Technical Direction
- Eva Schindling
- Production Coordinator
- Tara DeSimone
- Production
- Paul Bailly
- Michael Baker
- Mourad Bennacer
- Thibeault Bensa
- Olivier Coquet
- Nicolas Duvieusart Dery
- Élise Genvrin
- Sophie Grignart
- Luc Hernandez
- David Lortie
- Albane Guy
- Ricardo Jean
- Yolène Leroux
- Étienne Lemieux Maillé
- Benoît Piccolini
- Peter Rockwell
- Alexandra Sawicki
- Technological Partner
- ESKI
- Technical Direction
- Vincent Leclerc
- Project Manager
- Josiane Mercier
- Programming
- Patrick Keroulas
- Vincent de Belleval
- Production
- Marc-André Tessier
- Philippe Savard
- Video
- Geoffrey Boulangé
- Photo
- Olivier Blouin
- Powered with the help of
- Max/MSP
- Arduino IDE
- Firmware Razor AHRS
