Between the in and outbound lanes of the Kosciuszko Bridge fall thin sheets of rain. Bigger droplets collect on cable stays. At critical mass, they fall into the space below. They hit plastic, skin, metal and stone.
It’s 2PM on the Brooklyn side of the “K-Bridge” Park, a newly renovated urban space that has begun to attract larger, festival-style dance events. Today, Four Tet is hosting “Four Tet and Friends”, a two-day event that draws an eclectic mix of DJs and producers.
Floating Points and Daphni are playing back-to-back on the main stage. They are enveloped by a four-point soundsystem that projects rumbling Reese bass well into outer reaches of the park.
The space is massive. Michael, Anna and I collect near the far right edge of the stage. From our position, near a powerful rack of speakers, talking is impossible. We move slowly, warming up. Then this:
Floating Points feral new single, Logic4000, comes screaming into the park. I laugh and bounce on my toes, rain pelting my now-soaked trench.
Party’s starting…
At 4PM our group quadruples in size. We’ve moved stages and are now backed up to Newtown Creek. We stand against the front fence, the lowest point of a small ampitheater projecting sound away from the water. Avalon Emerson takes the decks.
Party’s starting…
A veteran raver (assumption) sporting a lavender jumpsuit and house slippers floats gracefully to the front, hands and hips cutting shapes in the rain. Friendly, intense though, I think to myself. Avalon Emerson gleefully cues a short Franki Valli & The Four Seasons (guessing) acapella over a winding trance tune. I cackle. Lavender goads us to dance. They get low to the ground, nearly prostrated, as if to say “I am no harm”. The sample hits double time, the bass breaks, Lavender jumps and we jump with them.
Party started.
Bear with me here, this will only hurt a little.
Entropy is a measure of the degree of spreading and sharing of thermal energy within a system.
The change in entropy is defined by the amount of reversible, environmental heat exchanges over time. Commonly misunderstood as chaos or disorder, entropy is instead the thermal impact molecules have on each other.
Lavender posesses high entropy. They are capable of “spreading and sharing” energy.
Back to the party…
Time dilates. I’m wearing earplugs consistently today. My environment is devoid of chatter. I find it easy to get into a groove. At 5PM, Floating Points and Daphni conclude, sending a new wave of previously un-observed molecules creekside.
Enter: the fluid dynamics of festivals.
The Reynolds number is a measure of a system’s transition between laminar and turbulent flow. In English, this number defines the amount of disorder or non-uniformity in movement of a fluid or gas.
This ugly thing boils down to: (density * velocity * size) / viscosity. A high Reynolds number results in a turbulent system, a low Reynolds number produces a smooth (laminar) system. Let’s apply this to the movement of dancers at 5PM in Greenpoint.
Interested in more dance fluid dynamics? Can’t get enough of this elitist bullshit?
When an event ends, let’s assume the density and velocity of the crowd is high. People are looking for a new stage, change of scene, etc. What about size? In the Reynolds equation, size refers to the diameter of the enclosing object. In our case, we can call that the width of the entrypoint into the creekside stage. At the K-Bridge, it’s rather wide. So by my armchair fluid dynamics our Reynolds number is…fucking big. When events end, people move in droves, causing a high degree of turbulence.
Turbulence.
I’m jostled left to right by an incoming group of four. They seem fucked up. Frosted noses confirmed my assumption. I judge and label them. Their presence feels extractive. But they dance. Bulldozing their way towards the fence they meet Lavender and form a circle. A flurry of color and frenetic energy they urge the crowd forward; my judgement lessens. An unlikely alliance. Hierarchies rise and fall in an instant. I am constantly undoing and recalculating my judgements.
Now, I forget them. The Reese bass returns as Avalon chops in some filthy garage. Time accelerates. My trench and corduroy dress (questionable choice) are soaked through. Michael, Andrés and I stay through the end of the set, through the beginning of Priori. My eyes close for minutes at a time as the crowd thins.
At 7PM we catch the end of Four Tet and reunite with Serena, Anna and others. Pat joins. The crowd is sparse, tired and joyful. I shake and bounce. Proper rave feeling. I scream into Amanda’s face, she into mine. We cackle.
Red lights to white, white to yellow. Wubbing dubstep to twinkling ethereal synths, Four Tet spins a tight web. I escape at 8:30 and meet Andrés, Bess and Grace at the exit.
We skip down Gardner Ave.
Party started.
It’s May. The outdoor season is upon us. More festivals, bigger events and summer-sized appetites are promised. Let this serve as a reminder: entropy is neutral and omnipresent and your judgements are often wrong.
From my armchair to yours,
Pete