Performance 9: Allora and Calzadilla at MOMA

Posted by The G on January 2, 2011 under Artsy Fartsy | Read the First Comment

Photos by G.

New York – if you want to see a really interesting performance art piece that mixes music, sculpture and crowd participation, I highly recommend you get thee over to the Museum of Modern Art before January 11, 2011 to check out Performance 9 by Allora and Calzadilla.  A hole has been cut out of the center of a piano. A performer gets inside the piano and performs the fourth movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony upside down and backwards (from the angle the performer faces the keys) and walks around the atrium of the museum while it’s being performed!  Wow!

As the performance starts, a crowd gathers around the piano to watch this amazing feat.  As the piano player travels around the atrium, the crowd basically has to move out of the way and as this happens, the sound of the symphony starts to change as you follow the performer around.  The performances happen every half hour during museum hours, so you should definitely check this out and have your mind blown.