All Of The Lights | MP3 Experiment Eight

After work on Saturday I took the subway into the city to checkout this event I had seen on the internet. The event was called MP3 Experiment Eight. The premise of the event was that everyone hit play on their MP3 players at the exact same second, so that everyone would be in sync with one another to the same downloaded MP3 . The MP3, which featured your stereotypical masked voice, led the crowd in various activities and motions to follow. Towards the beginning of the event the crowd was doing such things as acting goofy around unsuspecting New Yorkers and interacting with other participants in the experiment. As it got dark, we were instructed to go to Battery Park in the city so that we could meet up with the other participating group which was seperated by birthdays.

Upon arriving at the park, I cannot describe the feeling that was evoked when I turned the corner. The other group, who was dressed in black as apposed to my group's white, was already there waiting for us. I believe it would be safe to say that there were probably 5,000 participants in the "experiment", and that it hadn't really hit me until then what was about to occur. As the voice continued, he instructed that everyone turn on a flashlight, one of the few items we were asked to bring, at the same time. At this point I felt as though I was in a Steven Spilburg flick, because the feeling of that many people in-sync with light is a crazy thing.

After the grad entrance, the two groups merged into one large group in the middle of the field. With the new Freedom Tower under construction overhead, the massive crowd followed directions together and did things such as the worlds largest game of flashlight tag and a giant camera flash wave. As you might have expected though, the voice then called on everyone to take out the masks and glow sticks they were asked to bring with them. What the experiment then turned into was one giant rave, which was now to blaring music within the headphones. It must have been a bit perplexing to anyone within a two block radius to see or hear people dancing with glow sticks, because when I took my headphones off for a brief moment I couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

The idea of this experiment was pure genius, and I wish I would be around to shoot it again next year. For most of the frames below it was nearly pitch black, but I feel like it might be something you guys want to see anyway despite the quality. Enjoy.