Miranda Siegel

British artist Haroon Mirza wants to hear light; he wants to see sound. The winner of the 2011 Venice Biennale’s Silver Lion makes his New York solo debut this week at the New Museum’s Studio 231 with ­“Preoccupied Waveforms,” a site-specific, minimalist series of monitors, amplifiers, and lights spread throughout a former storefront and surrounded by panels of sound-catching foam spikes.

Remember 54, the fictionalized look at Studio 54 that came out in 1998 and was filled with cream o’ the crop 90s stars like Neve Campbell, Ryan Phillippe, and Breckin Meyer? The film was universally panned—but it also wasn’t what director Mark Christopher had envisioned.

These nine directors made some of the most memorable independent movies of the past two years—all of which were set on the streets of New York. And they did it before their 30th birthdays. Below, they explain why they could only do it here. 1. JODY LEE LIPES NY Export: Opus Jazz; Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same Neighborhood: Upper West Side Best thing about working here: “The locations.