ECHOES OF YOUTH:
an interactive sound map
of NYC memories
Hello!
Submissions are now closed and the project
is live on the Echoes app.
Thanks to all who participated!
WHAT IS THIS?
This participatory art project created by artist Megan Hattie Stahl explores youth experiences in the public spaces of New York City, past and present. Submissions will be combined to create an interactive, walkable map of sounds and memories spanning generations and boroughs.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Participants will submit short audio stories (1-6 minutes long) meant to be heard at a specific publicly accessible location in New York City. This can be an intersection, a park, a coffee shop, a subway station, a church, a school, a beach, a university, a grocery store, a bus stop... and more! Stories can be as simple as a voice memo or as complex as a multitrack production.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Anyone who is roughly between the ages of 15 and 24 (the United Nation's definition of youth) or anyone who can create an audio story about a New York City memory or place from their youth. Folks in either category are encouraged to participate either separately or together; multigenerational entries can bring valuable historical complexity to the project! No audio production experience necessary.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
All submitted stories will be added to a geolocated sound map on a free mobile app called Echoes. When someone visits your story's location, your audio will play automatically! Participants are also eligible for cash prizes (award categories include Most Historical, Most Creative, Most Chaotic and Most Touching)!
SOME INSPIRATION...
click on the play button below to hear a
sample story about 103 St. Marks Place
GETTING STARTED
STEP 1: THINK
Choose a place that's meaningful to you, or was meaningful during your youth. This might be a regular destination (past or present) or the site of a special memory. Is your connection to it positive, negative, or both? Is there a detail you always look(ed) for? How has this place changed - for better or worse?
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STEP 2: RECORD
[a few ideas]: Collaborate with a friend or family member. Record your own voice(s). Interview someone. Record how the location sounds. Make your own music. Invite the listener to interact with the place in a certain way. Write a poem and record yourself reading it.
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No microphone? No problem! Use the "voice memo" or "sound recorder" app on a smartphone. Try to speak slowly and clearly, close to the microphone, and watch out for wind!
If you gather multiple sounds and would like to combine them through multi-track audio editing, move on to step 3! If you'd like to submit a single voice memo instead, that's great too - just skip ahead to the submission form.
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