Thursday, February 05, 2004

By Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Frank Ferraro is of sound mind. So listen to the admittedly edgy things the local artist has to say about sound in our environment -- if you can hear over the daily din.

Frank Ferraro wants to weave positive sound environments into the urban fabric through "quiet parks" -- places where folks can go to actively listen to pleasant sounds. (Tony Tye, Post-Gazette) Sonic Bridge Project Sound Symposium WHERE: Terminal Building, 31 Terminal Way off East Carson Street, South Side. WHEN: 11 to 4 p.m. Sunday. ADMISSION: Free INFO: E-mail RadioWeld@aol.com or visit www.sonicbridgeproject.com

"It's something we don't pay a lot of attention to," the 43-year-old from Edgewood is quietly saying. "We're a visually oriented society."

You'd think he'd be visual, too, as a sculptor and painter. But in recent years, he's been increasingly intrigued with connecting his three-dimensional art with sound.

Hence his Sonic Bridge Project, a collaborative effort he's putting together to build awareness of and improve the urban soundscape.

More like, noisescape.

Ferraro cites stats such as how cities can notch up by a half-decibel each year because of the "cocktail party effect," where everybody gets louder to be heard over everybody else.

The field of "acoustic ecology" that Ferraro is into considers the ways people interact with sound, which often is negatively. White noises, such as air conditioners, drown out dynamic sounds such as birds singing, and so people are cut off from their locale's natural soundtrack. Harsh noise such as road construction causes them to isolate themselves further by cranking up the car stereo.

Ferraro isn't crusading against noise pollution. As he says, there are laws for that. He sees his mission as helping to create and weave positive sound environments into the urban fabric.

One way he proposes is to work with planners and others to design and build "quiet parks" -- places where folks can go to actively listen to pleasant sounds. A prototype of his would be built around a half-dozen tall metal tubes with piano wires inside that are gently flicked by solar-powered picks.

That wouldn't just be adding to the cacophony, he insists. Such "micro sounds" could make people hush up, focus and listen more deeply, creating a "sonic bridge" between listener and environment. A properly designed place could affect the listener on multiple levels, the way a cathedral can when you walk, with echoing footsteps, inside.

If you'd like to hear more, Ferraro invites you to the Sonic Bridge Project Sound Symposium he's holding Sunday on the South Side.

Boosted by a $2,600 grant from the Sprout Fund, he's bringing together a number of voices, from filmmaker Tony Buba to Catherine Palmer, director of UPMC's Center for Audiology and Hearing Aids, to explore these ideas and put them into the ear of the community, so to speak.

Architect Robert McDunn, a Sierra Club open space advocate who will speak on development of the Hays section of the city, says he's not sure where the discussion will go, but he's happy to see sound put on the broader table of environmental quality. "Frank's hitting on something that, for most people, it's not what they think of first. But in terms of health and well-being, it's important."

In addition to the short talks, the symposium will feature sound art installations, music and other performances by local artists, even hearing testing. Ferraro will show a model for his "quiet park," which he would like to build as early as this spring -- he hasn't yet determined a location -- if the project doesn't fall on deaf ears.

He knows all this can sound "a little esoteric, and it is shamefully high art. It's a bit embarrassing at times, but it's what I do."

The Penn Hills native plunged into art after a career in printing. Now his day job is as a draftsman for Denham-Vitalie Design Associates in Shadyside. His multidisciplinary art has included the sound installation "La Casa Vecchia" at the Wilkinsburg Flux event in 2002. Last year he was part of Junction Dance Theater's acclaimed multimedia "Forget Everything" and did the parking lot performance piece "DRYWALL 20: Equinox/Stone" with collaborator Steve Pellegrino, with whom he is part of LOSER (Loose Organization of Surreal Ethereal Realists).

Acoustic ecology, which is big in Canada and Australia, includes a wide range of disciplines and perspectives. So does sound art, which can be everything from CD soundtracks of various cities to a 1,000-year-long computer-generated composition being played at a London lighthouse and other places until Dec. 31, 2999, when it is to repeat.

Ferraro has all sorts of additional sound ideas, including a traveling live radio performance trailer.

"I would like ultimately for Pittsburgh to be a model for other cities," he says, liking the sound of giving this "city of bridges" a new dimension.

Correction/Clarification: (Published Feb. 6, 2004) Magazine -- The Sonic Bridge Project Sound Symposium runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Terminal Building, 31 Terminal Way, South Side, on Sunday. A story in yesterday's editions gave the starting time incorrectly.

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