1,000 pianos/ 37 cities/ 1 Boston

by Demelza Durston

The article that follows is based on an interview with the visual artist Luke Jerram on September 20, 2013. It took place in his offices on Park Street, Bristol, UK.

Courtesy of the author: ”Luke Jerram With Sphere” 

It really creates a visual and acoustic sense of community. It gives focus to a street.—Luke Jerram, artist-producer of Play Me, I’m Yours [installation in Boston September 27th- October 18th, 2013]

Boston, with its Berklee College of Music and historically thriving music scene, shouldn’t be surprised when it awakes on Friday morning to find hand-painted pianos have been scattered across familiar urban streets and landmarks. For the past 16 years since his graduation from the University of Wales, Cardiff (1997), Luke Jerram, an internationally active visual artist based in Britain, has long been fascinated by human perception. He is also curious about the ways we interact with different public spaces. These interests have blossomed in tandem to inform the global activity of Play Me, I’m Yours. His ongoing project already has visited 36 cities and Boston is the next to welcome the thousandth piano to its pavements.

Working alongside its host organization, the Celebrity Series of Boston, Jerram’s team has put together a map of public locations across Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, and Jamaica Plain where the 75 pianos will be installed temporarily and played by anyone who chooses to participate. Exact locations will be revealed on Monday.

At its inception, the piano project took place in Birmingham, in the UK. Now in its fifth year, Jerram has realized his piano concept in a range of cities internationally, including Cleveland, New York, Barcelona, Paris, Bristol, and there are plans to bring it to Melbourne in January 2014. Recalling his experience with the local community of São Paulo, Jerram describes how this has developed into something of “follow up” support in the form of shipments of discarded pianos to the people of São Paulo. “It’s amazing, that a piano can be so worthless to some; yet to somebody in São Paulo, the value of a piano can equate to an entire year’s wages,” the artist explains.

Jerram’s cultural observations are a testament to the varying realities we experience as individuals and members of distinctive collective communities. While a person living in New York might feel quite at home parading on camera, dressed in costume and posed at one of Jerram’s pianos in Times Square; someone in Geneva, Switzerland, might be more reserved in their performative approach. As Luke recalls: “The pianos are really a blank canvas. It’s up to each person to take and make whatever meaning they choose from these pianos. For instance, in New York there have been videos of people pouting to the camera and mimicking pop-stars. In Austin, Texas, it has really become evident of the creative spirit running through this city. The public hand-decorated these pianos—potted plants, you name it! In Geneva, smartly suited classical musicians turned up, clipped their piano scores to the piano, and began to play classical works.”

Courtesy of the author: Times Sq NYC 

The possibilities of engaging with Play Me, I’m Yours are as varied as are the ways in which people perceive the world, and act within it. Perception is the running thread throughout Luke Jerram’s work—and it is this theme, stemming from his color-blindness—that has fuelled much of his current artistic work. Jerram is also working right now on a musical score, with Bristol classical musician Dan Jones, inspired by the fascinating natural phenomenon of Lapland’s Aurora Borealis. Jerram himself will be translating the visual expression of these Northern Lights into a series of paintings, working with a light-box as a visual accompaniment to Dan Jones’s acoustically arranged interpretations. Speaking about the scale of this particular research and work, Luke explains:

“It can be quite overwhelming when [one is] faced with something as jaw-dropping as say, the Grand Canyon. And the Aurora Borealis is the same. We were there for one week and managed to catch sight of the Aurora Borealis every day.” This particular project is awaiting a funding decision from the Arts Council of Great Britain and if successful, it will be presented in Bristol’s largest concert venue, the 19th-century Colston Hall.

Luke has high hopes that the pianos on the streets of Boston will involve broad participation of the public, in particular, students who inevitably will document the evidence of their experiences in various social media. In previous cities, enthusiastic piano-spotters have been known to take on the ambitious challenge of seeking out and playing on every, single piano. Luke has even gained his own loyal following across the globe: “Piano Pilgrims, I like to call them. It’s great to see them!” He adds, “Each city has its own website, and already 2,000 or more images and videos have been uploaded by each city’s people. It’s leaving quite a legacy.”

The notion that public spaces may be instantly transformed by implanting a catalyst in them is increasingly familiar. That people are able to make meaning from this sort of encounter is frequently the case in Boston. Artist Jerrie K. Lyndon recently brought her chalk-art to the streets of Boston and Cambridge and in so doing, connected with young people in particular who got involved and openly expressed their creativity. Jerram is certain that Lydon’s concept has helped to set the wheels in motion for talented but fringe artists who are as yet undiscovered.

In London, traditional “busking” is not allowed unless you apply for a permit which involves a lengthy application and audition process. As a consequence, a lot of voices are not getting the recognition they deserve. Jerram recounts: “In the St. Pancras tube station we installed one piano. An Italian composer came over to London with just £50 in his pocket and kept on returning to this piano on a daily basis, to play his compositions to a public audience. It just so happened that a record producer was listening and signed him.”

In addition to bringing the concept of music and composition into our consciousness, Luke Jerram’s project has given a new life to many abandoned pianos. During their role in Play Me, I’m Yours, they are cared for by local “buddies” to ensure they are protected from all weather. After use, his pianos always are recycled. They are donated to local schools and communities.

Needless to say, music consistently has been an enduring aspect of community life, from the earliest forms of communication to our collective appreciation of sound art at temporary venues and festivals. Play Me, I’m Yours truly suggests how music may cross boundaries, bring people together, and inspire creativity in us all.

Get ready, Boston!

Demelza Durston is a British-born writer with a background in creative media, a passion for music (both passive & active) and travel. A recent graduate of a Finnish university and a hopeful future songwriter, filmmaker and novelist.
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