Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary
Murray Bridge, Australia
The Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary is a project led by composer and sound artist Jesse Budel and is located at Carey’s Park, on Mannum Road in the suburb of Northern Heights, Murray Bridge, Australia. The first two pianos were installed in 2018 and the site now includes eight pianos. Jesse Budel refers to the sanctuary as an ephemeral sculpture and instrument park in Murray Bridge.
Click here for a comprehensive overview of this piano sanctuary including an artist statement and many more photos of the ‘ruined’ pianos on Jesse Budel’s web-site.
Click here for information about the project on the Rural City of Murray Bridge’s web-site.
Below are links to some short videos on YouTube of improvisations by Jesse Budel on some of the ‘ruined’ pianos located at the Murray Bridge Sanctuary:
Video from March 30, 2021
Video from May 1, 2021
Video from December 15, 2021
The Decomposing Piano Exhibit
NAISA North Media Arts Centre
313 Highway 124, South River, ON, Canada
The Piano was installed outside New Adventures in Sound Art’s NAISA North Media Arts Centre in December 2022 at a point where the upright piano was still playable despite some tuning deficiencies. CBC based an article based on an interview by Markus Schwabe of NAISA’s Executive Director, Nadene Thériault-Copeland about the exhibit when it first opened which can be found here.
The piano had been gifted to NAISA in 2017 after having been stored in an unheated cottage for at least a few decades, if not more. The piano has been live-streamed since February 2023 on NAISA’s YouTube channel 24/7, NAISATube and has mics installed inside that pick up both the nearby soundscape (cars, people, wind) and the resultant sounds that happen when the sounds are picked up through the strings inside.
The idea of putting the piano outside came about via Nadene’s interest in improvisation over the years and in alternative tunings prompted her to create the exhibit. The piano continues to be played and improvised on by members of the community and artists alike. You can check out the many videos of past life-streams as well as improvisations on NAISA’s Youtube channel here.
Click here for more information about the project on NAISA’s web-site as well as links to performances on the ‘decomposing’ piano since December 2022.
The WARPS – World Association for Ruined Piano Studies
Website
WARPS is a website created by Ross Bolleter that documents his ‘ruined’ piano projects dating back to 1987 when he first discovered and recorded a ‘ruined’ piano at Nallan Sheep Station in Australia. The website includes many essays, project descriptions and links to many of the recordings Bolleter has made since 1987. It is incredibly detailed and a must-read if you are interested in finding out more about the many creative possibilities that unfold as a piano weathers and becomes an ever-changing instrument.
Taken from Ross Bolleter’s website ‘About’ page:
Formed in 1991 by Stephen Scott (of Bowed Piano celebrity, and professor of music at Colorado Collage) and Ross Bolleter. The organisation has world-wide membership, has never held an AGM, and tends to move into action only from whim or from a rush of blood. WARPS has devoted energy to giving old pianos a good home, which can certainly mean adequate sunshine and rain, as in…….
WARPS PIANO PATHOLOGY
Inactive, neglected, abandoned, weathered, decaying, ruined, devastated, dismembered, decomposed…….
WARPS – World Association for Ruined Piano Studies retrieved on Feb. 5, 2024 from https://bolleter.wixsite.com/warpsmusic/about