A travelling public art exhibit in Williamsburg is bringing people together to make music. Not with instruments, though; with swings.
The Musical Swings is a project by Daily Tous les Jours, an award-winning art studio from Montreal with works around the globe. Created in 2011, a touring version of the installation has visited cities from Singapore to New York since 2014. They went up outside the Williamsburg Community Building at the end of March and will be in town through May 17.
The concept transforms typical playground equipment into an interactive piece of art. The act of swinging generates tones similar to a guitar strumming. Higher motion creates higher pitches and the 10 swings’ tones blend and play as people swing together.
Members of Williamsburg’s city council and public art council say they’ve been an instant hit.
“It really has made a connection with the community,” said Vice Mayor Pat Dent. “It’s brought people together and it’s fun.”
The city hosted a grand opening on April 10 that included a live painting demonstration by Hüseyin Uysal, a William & Mary visiting scholar. Uysal, also a violinist, has synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon characterized by sensory crossover. Things he hears cause him to see different colors and shapes.
“I can see the atmosphere,” Uysal said. “And so these shapes and atmosphere affected my paintings.”
He created three paintings inspired by the sights and sounds of the swings and people playing, which he compared to the three movements of a classical concerto composition. The works will be on display in the Stryker Center near the swings.
Williamsburg Poet Laureate Lacroy “Atlas” Nixon also performed. He spoke about the role public art and interaction can have in helping people decompress in times of stress and crisis.
“There’s very few spaces to just sit down, enjoy a nice day and swing on the swings,” Nixon said. “It’s beautiful to see not just kids, but adults swinging; life bogs us down, the swings remind us of that inner child.”
It was a sentiment shared by Anne Hunt of the public art council. She was struck by a feeling of harmony and peace when she visited the swings.
“It’s a wonderful juxtaposition to what’s going on in the world,” Hunt said. “We feel very fortunate to have this in Williamsburg.”
