The Albright-Knox Art Gallery had marble floors in the original 1905 building designed by Edward B. Green and James G. Wicks. Cracked and broken for years, the loose marble squares produced tones whenever a visitor would step on them. For decades, within the large interior spaces those notes had become a part of visiting the gallery. The random creation of the musical stones turned each room into a unique instrument and with the layout of every new exhibition a score was unintentionally created. Art galleries are not clean-rooms or seamless voids. When and where a viewer encounters an artwork cannot be separated from the experience.
Sound is part of the environment and the viewers artworks are viewed and within these spaces
This soundscape within the white cube became part of the ritual of visiting the museum. The experience of viewing the work in these rooms was unique as the soundscape could not be ignored and became integrated into the art. Installation of new heavy sculptures created new cracks and notes emerged from the floors. Regular patrons understood the sounds and might tap lightly making a note while new visitors, unaware of the feature, would inadvertently add to the performance.
Recording the sounds of the loose stones on the floors of the galleries in 2015 I created a collection of audio files. My intention was for the tones to be downloaded and installed on phones as ringtones or text alerts. Playing the sounds outside of the gallery space would disconnect the sounds from a visit to the Albright-Knox and allow for new contextualization. Or perhaps it would bring feelings associated with the gallery experience into other realms. But I was most interested in what would happen when those notes organically generated within the space were echoed by a recording nearby but out of place.
In 2019 the gallery was closed to the public for a multi-year renovation, expansion, and construction of new buildings. The floors have been replaced and the sounds are no longer part of this environment. Now these recorded tones are disembodied ghosts of the museum’s former existence. For those of use who visited the Albright-Knox during this period, the tones may trigger a memory or connect to a subconscious element.
The tones can be downloaded for free by clocking on the icon below. The ZIP compressed folder contains both MP3 for Android and M4R files for iPhone.
Installing Ringtones on an Android Device
Download the compressed .ZIP folder from the website onto your computer
1. Uncompress the .zip file and copy the MP3 files to your android phone.
2. Go to Settings , Sound , Device ringtone. You will see a list of the phone's default ringtones.
3. Tap the Add button to launch the media manager app.
4. You will see a list of music files stored on your phone. Select one and tap Done.
5. Your selected MP3 track will now be your custom ringtone.
Installing Ringtones on an iPhone
Download the compressed .ZIP folder from the website onto your computer
1. Uncompress the .zip file and drag the M4R files into iTunes.
2. Connect your iPhone to your computer.
3. Select it in iTunes and click the Tones tab.
4. Ensure the new tones are check-marked in the Tones library and Sync the iPhone.
