Make Sound Art: ‘Unsilent Night’ At Dolores Park This Saturday

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The Flaming Lips broke out the boomboxes to make art, and this year, once again, you can, too.

Get in the act when “Unsilent Night,” New York composer Phil Kline’s free, all-volunteer outdoor boombox holiday concert, is unleashed on a far-from-silent-and-sleepy Bay Area for a seventh annual performance on Saturday, Dec. 19, at Mission Dolores Park.

Consider this an alternative to your mom’s caroling outing. No one sings; instead each participant hoists a boombox playing a separate cassette or CD of sounds, becoming a part of this mobile, ambient public art piece. You’re a player in the orchestra -- or sound system -- as the bells, voices and electronic effects shimmer, reverberate and bounce off cars, buildings and other pieces of the urban landscape. Since Kline started the performance art project in NYC in 1992, it’s happened in 25 cities around the world.

Ready to make some celestial noise? Bring a boombox to Dolores Park around 7 or 7:30 p.m. Tapes and CDs will be distributed there. Everyone will hit “play” at the same time and walk a mile-long route through the area, spreading sonic art wherever they go.

“Unsilent Night” happens Saturday, Dec. 19, 7-8:30 p.m., at Mission Dolores Park, 18th and Dolores streets, SF. Free. www.unsilentnight.com

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