Christopher Janney (born 1950) is an American composer, artist, and architect known for his work on the interrelation of architecture and music. Sometimes he attempts to make architecture more like music as in his sound sculptures titled "Urban Musical Instruments", of which "Soundstair" (musical stairs) and "Sonic Forest" are examples. Other times, he develops performance projects which make music more like architecture as in his "Physical Music" series which includes "HeartBeat," a piece danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Much of Janney's permanent work has sought to create "permanent participatory soundworks for public spaces," including installations for airports in Dallas, Boston, Miami and Sacramento, Atlanta and the New York City Subway.
Janney has toured his "Sonic Forest" in both the US and Europe, at major music festivals including Bonnaroo and Coachella, as well as Glastonbury and Hyde Park Calling in the UK.
In 2014, Janney created an evening-length concert at the Gramercy Theater/NYC titled "Exploring the Hidden Music." He created new versions of his "Visual Music Project", "HeartBeat", and his quadraphonic sound installation, "CyberMonks." Additional performers included bassist/producer Bill Laswell (B. Eno, D. Byrne, H. Hancock), percussionist Sheila E. (Santana, Prince), tabla/drummer Trilok Gurtu (J.Zawinul, J. McLaughlin), singer Lynn Mabry (Brides of Funkenstein), Dave Revels (Persuasions) and choreographer Sara Rudner (Twyla Tharp Dance).
A book on his work, titled Architecture of the Air, was released in February, 2007.
While also a Research Fellow at MIT, Janney developed his own multi-media studio, PhenomenArts, Inc., in 1980, combining his interests in music and architecture. He has created numerous permanent interactive sound/light installations and performances, including Harmonic Runway at the Miami Airport and REACH:NY, 34th St. Subway in New York, HeartBeat:mb with Sara Rudner and Mikhail Baryshnikov, and "Soundstair" (musical stairs), most recently at the Boston Children's Hospital.
He currently serves as Vice-President for the Institute for Performance Sculpture, Inc. and is President/Artistic Director for PhenomenArts, Inc which specializes in Environmental Arts and Design with studios in Lexington, MA and London, UK.[citation needed]
Urban musical instruments
Janney has created a number of temporary and permanent installations in the US and Europe titled “Urban Musical Instruments.” A good example of this work is "Sonic Forest" consisting of 8ft. tall by 10" diameter cylindrical aluminum columns, placed in site-specific patterns. Each column contains a series of photo-sensors, audio speaker, LED cone-light and star-strobe. By strolling among and touching the columns, people trigger the photo-sensors, activating the light and an ever-changing “sound score” of melodic tones, environmental sounds and text.
"Soundstair", a site-specific interactive light/sound installation, has toured throughout the US and Europe since 1980.[citation needed]
SoundStair: The Nature of Environmental/Participatory Art
Christopher Janney, Ellen Lampert-Greaux, Beth Dunlop, Sir George Martin (Foreword); Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments of Christopher Janney; New York: Sideshow Media, 1997. ISBN978-0-9788143-0-4
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Michael Leslie Brewster was an American artist, recognized for coining the term “acoustic sculpture.” He worked with sound to create sonic environments beginning in the 1970s until 2016. His works were shown across the United States and Europe, and are in permanent collections, notably the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, the Fondo per Arte Italiano, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and the Giuseppe Panza Collection.
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