With his travelling installation Playing the Building, our favourite Talking Head – David Byrne – has managed to convert entire buildings into musical instruments. The chosen building’s latent symphonic qualities are activated by the keys of a vintage chapel organ, which tug specific cables rigged throughout the building to instigate wind, vibration, or physical contact on the architectural surfaces. The inherent resonant qualities of beams, pipes, and ducts emit melodic, enchanting, and often eerie sounds. Any visitor can step into the building and mess around on the keyboard. No piano lessons necessary.
So far Playing the Building has been shown four times: at Färgfabriken, Stockholm (2005); Battery Maritime Building, New York (2008); Roundhouse, London (2009); and Aria, Minneapolis (2012). (ew)
Byrne at the Aria in Minneapolis, 2012. (Photo: Jake Armour, Armour Photography)
David Byrne is a Scottish-born musician living in the US. He is best known as the front-man of the Talking Heads from 1975-1991, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Byrne is a true multi-media artist, who has produced several solo albums and also worked with film, photography, text, and every musical genre under the sun. He has been awarded a Grammy, Oscar and a Golden Globe.
davidbyrne.com
Photo: Justin Ouellette, New York, 2008. Video courtesy David Byrne.
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