A musical instrument the size of a warehouse
Posted on February 12th, 2009 by Jon O
Last summer, Creative Time presented “Playing the Building,” a sound installation in Manhattan’s Battery Maritime Building by David Bryne in which the physical elements of the building were converted into a giant musical instrument. An organ was connected mechanically to the building structure — the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and by pressing the keys one could make these things vibrate, resonate or oscillate.
At a previous installation in Stockholm, Sweden in 2005, recordings were made of pianists “playing the building.” Listening to the recordings is like listening in on a strange symphony. Byrne describes watching amateurs in the audience take turns playing the device with enthusiasm, each performance followed by applause. “I guess I am advocating less separation between cultural producers (the artists, writers, musicians, dancers, singers) and cultural consumers,” he says.
A video interview, listening samples and more information can be found at “Playing the Building.”
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