Times Square is loud . But if you turn forth from the glow lights and ignore the cacophony of car horns , barkers , and tourists , you might notice a mysterious drone drift from the metro grate below . It ’s a rum metal “ wah - wah ” that resemble a decaying gong , or a didgeridoo player dispiritedly snare in the sewer . It ’s what I imagine being sucked into an everlasting whirl sound like .
It ’s more than bare mechanically skillful noise . It ’s a opus of sound art . Installed in 1977 , it was create by creative person Max Neuhaus , who competently entitle it “ Times Square . ” Neuhaus made a car that amplify the resonance of the Square ’s tunnel colligation , expose an eldritch hum that would otherwise persist muffled underground . Amazingly , he created the swarm of noise without the help of a estimator or electronic medicine .
What ’s more amazing , though , is that no one ever notices it ’s there . Which is kind of the level . There ’s no sign of the zodiac pointing out the work . You ca n’t find Neuhaus ’ name anywhere around . The machine is cover in the bowels of the tunnels below , and all you could see is a sea of cigarette stern , a metal grate , and tip-tilted noses as hoi polloi catch a puff of the New York subway ’s aroma du jour .
Neuhaus go along it secret because he wanted people to discover it on their own , to receive that “ Hey ! infer what I find ! ” present moment . But it also prompt something worth mulling over : Is it potential to distract someone — even for a moment — from the brightest lights in the biggest city ?
Well , try for yourself . you may find the buzz on a concrete island between 45th and 46th Streets , pinched between Broadway and 7th Avenue . There ’s a good chance that a creepy costume Elmo or Mario will mark the spot .
