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Jul 14, 2009

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." --Sir Cecil Beaton

An Invitation to Make Music

The piano was standing innocently near the Millennium Bridge, minding its own business except for a cheeky come-on -- "Play Me, I'm Yours" -- printed on its side. All around London its fellow pianos were waiting, too -- 30 of them in all -- part of an interactive art project meant to challenge people to come out of their urban insularity. "They're out there to get people talking to one another and to claim ownership and activate the public space," said the creator of the project, Luke Jerram. He previously brought incarnations of it to Birmingham, England; Sao Paolo, Brazil' and Sydney, Australia. "It's a blank canvas for everyone's creativity." Players of every aptitude from highly gifted to virtually talentless -- all have tried their hand at the pianos. Highlights, including a pianist dressed as Mozart and a 9-year-old boy playing Chopin.