Playing the Building: An Installation by David Byrne opened at the Battery Maritime building last weekend and we trekked downtown to see what the Talking Heads genius had imagined up this time. After his Business as Poetry exhibit (yeah, we were skeptical) where he showed us how to bring artistic possibilities back into PowerPoint Presentations—and forever changing FADER office meetings—we got on board for all the charming and clever projects in his ever-growing portfolio. This time around, Byrne’s inspiration came back to the piano bench. He’s placed an antique organ at the center of the large warehouse and linked it to whistling tubes and spinning motors. The tubes, girders and crafty homemade flutes then connect to metal columns and overhead rafters, producing Thuds! Wheeews! and Ping! noises when projected off the room. The project encourages anyone to sit at the retrofitted organ and strike a tune, but artists will be invited to challenge the mechanisms in talks throughout the summer (check dates here). Wait! What’s happening? This musician is aging gracefully!? Bret Michaels, pay attention.
Playing the Building: An Installation by David Byrne is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Noon to 6pm at the Battery Maritime Building through August 10th.
