PHOTOS: The Event of a Thread Invites New Yorkers to Play on 42 Dangling Swings

Swings have taken over the historic <a href="http://www.armoryonpark.org/" target="_blank">Park Avenue Armory</a>! A new installation by artist <a href="http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/" target="_blank">Ann Hamilton</a> has transformed the cavernous space into a beautiful interactive piece called “The Event of a Thread” where visitors are invited to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/swing-is-a-low-tech-energy-generating-public-art-installation-in-portugal/" target="_blank">play on forty-two dangling swings</a> throughout the space which manipulate an enormous hanging piece of fabric. The effect is a majestic ripple that flows through the curtain <a href="http://inhabitat.com/haos-wave-shaped-apartments-in-northern-china-could-connect-residents-to-the-beach-and-sea/" target="_blank">like a wave</a>.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/german-armory-transformed-into-stunning-solar-school/" target="_blank">beautiful armory was built in 1880</a>, and was been converted into an interactive arts venue in 2006. For Hamilton’s installation, the sprawling 55,000 square foot main hall has become an oversized swing set, with swings for two on either side of the central curtain.

Visitors are connected to the installation, and to one another, by a series of cables that connect the swings to the fabric and one another.

When guests enter the great hall, they are first met by two readers, sitting at a table stacked with cages of trained <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nightmarish-rat-lamp-4-more-creepy-taxidermy-lamps/taxidermied-pigeon-desk-lamp/" target="_blank">pigeons</a>. The pigeons calmly relax, while the two speakers read writings from Aristotle into microphones, which are played on speakers in the armory.

Passing the reading table, visitors are faced with the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/visiondivision-unveils-swing-set-and-visitor-kiosk-made-from-a-single-100-foot-tree/" target="_blank">swings</a> which are scattered throughout.

Each swing, big enough for two people, is connected to a piece of the central white fabric, and also to a weight that can be seen going up and down in the balcony that faces the fabric.

When visitors begin swinging, the rippling white fabric unfurls, creating peaks and valleys as they swing back and forth. When all of the swings are occupied, the fabric undulates rapidly, yet in a graceful movement.

The artist herself has her own station at the opposite end of the hall, seated at a desk that faces away from the curtain. A built in mirror, which is also connected to the rest of the piece with chain cables, allows Hamilton to look at the moving curtain in the reflection.

The Event of a Thread welcomes visitors to participate until January 6, 2013.