David Byrne and Boing Boing

I once saw David Byrne in a gallery in Chelsea at a Jonas Mekas exhibit. Maybe it’s the white hair, maybe it was because I was experiencing a personal Talking Heads renaissance – dancing that Once in a Lifetime New Wave jig at parties, listening to Byrne’s Aguas De Marco cover on repeat – or maybe it’s because he’s #$%@ing David Byrne, but I swear as he watched Mekas’ vintage avante-garde films, he emanated a palpable aura of experimental awesome.

If you spend just a few minutes in the same room as him, it doesn’t come as such a surprise that he’s capable of creations like this:

Playing the Building is a sound installation in downtown NYC that’s converted the Battery-Maritime Building into one big musical instrument that anyone can play. If you’re in New York, check it out through August 10 free of charge at 10 South Street every Friday through Sunday, Noon – 6PM.

The video’s also a great example of how, after an average start, Boing Boing has found its flow and created an excellent video component, perfectly complimenting it’s “directory of wonderful things.”