MOMA //nyc
january 9, 2011
So she really did climb through the center of the piano.
And she really did play 5 pieces, as she was positioned backwards and faced the keys upside down. Right hand was now the Left hand, and vice versa.
And then she proceeded to walk forward and circle around the room, whilst continually playing, in the middle of the piano. The crowd had no choice but to follow. Or move out of the way.
This exhibit was a total mind f*ck for both the performer and audience, in an exhilarating way. As a classically trained pianist myself, it's hard enough to learn a piece the correct way. Now I'm watching this pianist perform (with ease, no less) 5 consecutive difficult pieces, in the most bizarre and awkward position to ever play a piano. Baby, like, whoa.
My friend Grace and I spoke to a performer who went on before this woman, doing the same routine. He was from Juilliard (but of course), and it took him 2 months to master this performance. He said he woke up just 1 hour before he had to play that day. Silly boy.
My initial reaction was "why and how could they bear to drill a life-size hole into the center of the piano??" My heart just cringed thinking about the "abuse" to the instrument. Followed by "wait, what about the strings in the middle of the piano? Did they remove them??"
Lo and behold, the middle octaves of the keyboard did not emit sound, as the strings were indeed removed. So in addition to being a completely avant-garde performance, it was shall we say, a new take on the music itself.
Contemporary music, anyone?
