NEWS RELEASE
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Robert Clyne
Clyne Media, Inc.
(615) 662-1616
Consumer Audio Contact:
Frank Doris
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Audio-Technica Helps Bring The Jungle To Times Square
— Company’s acclaimed ATH-M70x headphones were used when mixing the sounds of the Amazon for Soundwalk Collective’s JUNGLE-IZED: A Conversation With Nature art installation, and visitors to the exhibit will experience the audio on ATH-M70x headphones, exactly like the creators intended —
STOW, OH, April13, 2016 —Audio-TechnicaATH-M70xM-Series Professional Monitor Headphones have been used for both mixing and playback for a remarkable sonic and visual art installation in Times Square, New York City.
From April 1, Soundwalk Collective, an international sound collective based in New York and Berlin, will present JUNGLE-IZED: A Conversation With Nature – a month-long interactive multi-sensory art installation that will transform Times Square and transport close to half a million visitors daily to the heart of the Amazon. Presented in collaboration with David de Rothschild, The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC), Times Square Arts, Audio-Technica, and CXA+ART, the immersive installation includes a participatory audio experience and an interactive video, to encourage a conversation with nature and to heighten awareness of the environmental impact of climate change.
It’s a soundscape that began with the raw tracks that were captured in the Amazon – mixed on Audio-Technica ATH-M70x Professional Monitor Headphones. Composed by acclaimed sound artist Francisco López, the sonic journey includes the voices of Shipibo shamans and narration by Amazon experts Jeremy Narby and Daniel Pinchbeck, guiding visitors along a jungle tour and into a conversation with nature.
As part of the Times Square Arts’ At the Crossroads program – which includes installations and performances on the public plazas of Times Square – visitors will be invited to take self-guided audio tours of the Amazon by downloading the JUNGLE-IZED mobile app, available via free Wi-Fi service. From noon to midnight throughout April visitors can also borrow a pair of Audio-Technica’s ATH-M70x headphones from the official JUNGLE-IZED kiosk located on 7th Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets, to begin the journey through a virtual soundscape that superimposes the Amazon ecosystem upon an eight-square block area of Times Square.
This audio experience will be accompanied by a video, directed by Stephan Crasneanscki of Soundwalk Collective, which will be shown every night in April from11:57pm to midnight on the electronic billboards of Times Square. The JUNGLE-IZED film will invite spectators to take part in a simple collective action in celebration of Earth Month, revealing the hidden energy that exists in one of the most biodiverse environments in the world – bringing the animals, the air, the trees, and the tribal inhabitants of the Amazon to New York City.
Filmed with Nikon D750 and Nikkor lenses, the video was shot along the longitudinal 73rd Meridian West that connects Times Square with the Amazon. Visitors will be encouraged to view the video through their phones by enabling a negative viewing function on a mobile device, inverting the colors to reveal a “positive” version of the film.
“I chose Audio-Technica’s ATH-M70x headphones not only because of their audio quality, but because I knew eventually that visitors to the exhibit would be listening to our tracks through these same headphones,” stated Francisco López. “We wanted to offer visitors the ability to hear the tracks the same way I did when mixing them.”
Sohichiro Matsumoto, Global Creative Director at Audio-Technica, said, “Our ATH-M70x headphones are perfectly designed to deliver this audio experience to participants thanks to their ability to provide excellent sound isolation, coupled with a driver that accurately reproduces extreme low and high frequencies – from 5Hz to 40KHz – making them ideally suited to the rich and varied soundscape of the Amazon.”
Soundwalk Collective said, “Godard once said: the positive is in the projector, and the negative is in the camera. We have reversed this concept, showing the negative image and the missing sound in order to remind us all that life in every shape and form is a given. And after, you have to live and make your destiny. Nature was given to you as a positive and life has no meaning if you don’t take care of it with duty.When we take these headphones off, or see the real color of Nature in the screens around us, hopefully we will also understand our immediate responsibilities.”
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “With unique insight, the artist here has taken the ‘urban jungle’ metaphor – which expresses so many of the challenges of an intensely urban and Darwinian place like Times Square – and turned it into a joyous celebration of something wholly different. By drawing in the sounds of a true jungle, this allows New Yorkers and visitors to experience a new, hybrid jungle that is unique to Times Square.”
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Photo file 1: JUNGLE-IZED_Opening.jpg
Photo caption 1: Soundwalk Collective’s JUNGLE-IZED installation in Times Square was launched on April 1, 2016. In attendance (shown left to right) were Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Alliance Creative Director; Francisco López, Sound Artist; Stephen Crasneanscki, Kamran Sadeghi and Simone Merli of Soundwalk Collective; Jeff Simcox, Audio-Technica Executive Director of Marketing Communications. Photograph by Monica Schipper/Getty Images.
Photo file 2: JUNGLE-IZED_Simone_Merli_Soundwalk_Collective.jpg
Photo caption 2: Simone Merli of Soundwalk Collective is experiencing the sounds from the Amazon in Times Square during the April 2016 JUNGLE-IZED event, using Audio-Technica ATH-M70x headphones. Photograph courtesy of Ka-Man Tse for @TSqArts.
Photo file 3: JUNGLE-IZED_Kiosk.jpg
Photo caption 3: Individuals in Times Square signing out Audio-Technica’s ATH-M70x for Soundwalk Collective’s April 2016 JUNGLE-IZED event, to experience the sounds of the Amazon. Photograph courtesy of Ka-Man Tse for @TSqArts
Photo file 4: JUNGLE-IZED_Kiosk_&_Mobile_Device.jpg
Photo caption 4: Preparing for the Midnight Moment by viewing the JUNGLE-IZED kiosk through a mobile device, showing the colors inverted from negative to positive. Photograph courtesy of Ka-Man Tse for @TSqArts.
(These photographs are the property of photographers, and may be used by the press only for the purpose of one-time reproduction. Unauthorized use, alteration or reproduction of these photographs is strictly prohibited.)
ABOUT AUDIO-TECHNICA
As an innovative transducer company celebrating more than 50 years of audio excellence worldwide, Audio-Technica’s role goes beyond simply manufacturing headphones, microphones and other products that capture and reproduce audio. Since its beginnings in 1962, Audio-Technica has been dedicated to enriching people’s lives through sound. Even as the company has grown, becoming a global entity with an expanded line of award-winning products prized by musicians, audio engineers, and music lovers everywhere, Audio-Technica hasn’t lost sight of its original vision nor forgotten the transcendent power of sound. Through sound, Audio-Technica aims to heighten connections to the world so that all may enjoy ever more meaningful and vibrant lives.
ABOUT SOUNDWALK
Soundwalk Collective is an international art group based in New York City and Berlin, and includes founder Stephan Crasneanscki (Russia - France), Simone Merli (Italy) and Kamran Sadeghi (Iran - USA). The Collective combines nature, anthropology, ethnography, non-linear narratives, psycho-geography and the exploration of recording and listening to sound. The importance of their source material is directly linked to specific locations, requiring long periods of investigative travel and field work. The presentation of their work is a combination of live performance, audio / visual installations and genre-bending music publications. Their most recent works feature collaborations with Nan Goldin; Jean-Luc Godard; and rock icon Patti Smith in "Killer Road,” their live homage to Nico. Soundwalk Collective’s recent installations and performances have been shown at Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), CTM Festival (Berlin), KW Institute of Contemporary Art (Berlin), MUDAM (Luxembourg), MADRe Museum of Contemporary Art (Napoli) and Barbican Centre (London).
ABOUT FRANCISCO LÓPEZ
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the main figures on the stage of sound art and experimental music. His experience in the field of sound creation and work with environmental recordings covers a period of more than thirty five years, during which he has developed an impressive sound universe that is completely personal and iconoclastic and based on profound listening to the world. He has realized hundreds of sound installations, projects with field recordings, and concerts/performances in seventy countries, including the main international concert halls, museums, galleries and festivals, such as: National Music Auditorium (Madrid), PS1 Contemporary Art Center (New York), Museum of Modern Art (Paris), International Film Festival (Rotterdam), Festival des Arts (Brussels), EMPAC (Troy, USA), Darwin Fringe (Darwin, Australia), Institute of Contemporary Art (London), Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona, Center of Contemporary Art (Kita-Kyushu, Japan), National Museum Reina Sofía (Madrid), Spanish Pavilion of the International Expo Zaragoza (Spain), etc. His extensive catalogue of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with more than 150 international artists) has been released by more than 350 recording labels / publishers all over the world. He has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival (Austria) and is the recipient of the Qwartz Award 2010 (France) for best sound anthology.
ABOUT CXA+ART
CXA+ART explores alternate avenues of communication and distribution of art and culture by aligning fine artists with global brands and art institutions. CXA+ART develops gallery and museum exhibitions, public art initiatives, and art programs that induce the cultural exploration of content. Recent projects have included Gareth Pugh with Lexus Design Disrupted, and previous Midnight Moment collaborations with Times Square Arts and TSAC featuring Marco Brambilla and Robert Wilson.
ABOUT MIDNIGHT MOMENT
Midnight Moment is the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content on electronic billboards and newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square every night. The program premiered in May 2012 and is organized and supported by the Times Square Advertising Coalition in partnership with Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, with additional partners of participating sign holders and artists.
Each night, Times Square becomes a digital art gallery through dazzling visuals on select billboards and newsstands. Every show begins at 11:57 p.m. with a "countdown" that signals the start of the three minute nightly presentation. Past artists featured in the program include Lorna Mill; Fischli and Weiss; Laurie Anderson; Antony Nagelmann; Jesper Just; Shahzia Sikander; Rashaad Newsome; Osgemeos; Eric Dyer; Richard Garet; Andy Warhol; Peggy Ahwesh; Marco Brambilla; Rafaël Rozendaal; Sebastian Errazuriz; Charles Atlas and Antony; Noah Hutton; Ryoji Ikeda; Daniel Canogar; Alfredo Jaar; Isaac Julien; Robert Wilson; Tracey Emin; Seoungho Cho; Vicki DaSilva, Surabhi Saraf, and Elly Cho; Erika Janunger; Takeshi Murata; Bel Borba with Burt Sun and André Costantini; Zach Nader; Brian Gonzalez (aka Taxiplasm); Björk; JR; Ryan McGinley; Jack Goldstein; Nature Theater of Oklahoma; Ezra Wube; Laleh Khorramian; Brian Dailey; Leslie Thornton; and Yoko Ono.
ABOUT TIMES SQUARE ADVERTISING COALITION (TSAC)
TSAC is a trade association composed of major advertisers, retailers, real estate firms, media companies and other businesses involved in the outdoor sign industry in Times Square, along with organizations representing Broadway and the community. Members of TSAC include: ABC Regional Sports & Entertainment Sales, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Daktronics, D3 LED, Digital Domination, Hines Management, Jamestown One Times Square, Lamar Advertising Company, Landmark Sign & Electric, Metro Media Technologies, Newmark Knight Frank, North Shore Neon, P.R.omotion!, Sherwood Outdoor, SL Green, Times Square Alliance, The WOW Factor and Thomson Reuters. Follow TSAC on twitter at @TSACNYC.
ABOUT TIMES SQUARE ART
The public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity. Generous support of Times Square Arts is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.
—For more information on the complete range of Audio-Technica products, contact Karen Emerson, Audio-Technica U.S., Inc., 1221 Commerce Drive, Stow, OH 44224. Tel: (330) 686-2600; Fax: (330) 688-3752; Web:.
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