I found a little glen amongst the cold glass and steel of the ITP projects. In it, a sprite or tree spirit or alanis morissette clonette was wearing these thrumming, bark-covered, tree-loving, meditation boots.
The girl who made them was peering inside the boots, which were covered with bark she said she collected over a semester in all the parks in NYC. Sensors inside the boots trigger a slow hum, as if the earth were purring, when a user simply stands in them. If the user picks feet up to move, the speakers inside make the disharmonious sound of roots ripping from the earth. The point is to encourage people to stop and connect with the mother gaia. Or something like that. The girl who made this project was super nice! At one point, she broke her project, and had to run and hot glue it back together. And later, she made sure to spray down the moss so it wasn't thirsty. Ah hippies. I got homesick for California for a bit, there. [root boots at ITP]