Jack Straw New Media Gallery

Metaphors for Dead Pianos An interactive sound sculpture by Hugo Solis January 29 - April 2, 2010 Gallery Opening: January 29, 2010, 7pm Artist Talk: February 19, 2010, 7pm Jack Straw New Media Gallery 4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle 98105 Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 - 5

Metaphors for Dead Pianos (Metáforas para Pianos Muertos) is a set of interactive sonic sculptures built by dismembering acoustic pianos that previous owners have thrown away. The poetical goal is to revive the instruments using a contemporary sonic perspective. The pianos are extended with custom electronic circuits, custom software, microcontrollers, sensors, motors, and solenoids.

Using the sensors, a small computer registers and analyzes audience behaviors, generating the materials that the piano bodies reproduce with the solenoids and motors. The result is a modulation between audience interaction and the spectral analysis of the “Well Tempered Clavier” by J. S. Bach.

Metaphors for Dead Pianos III uses one grand piano and one suspended grand piano frame. The characteristic of this third version is the confrontation between two objects of different visual and acoustic properties.

Jack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, PONCHO, ArtsFund, and individual contributors for their support of Jack Straw Artist Programs.

This work is also sponsored in part by the Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media at the University of Washington (DXARTS) and a grant of the program Jóvenes Creadores by the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes from Mexico.