Des Moines city sounds 2019

Public Art Installation

June - October 2019

The City Sounds Piano Project has provided an instrument and a public space for the population of Des Moines to provide impromptu soundtracks to everyday life in our city since 2014. Every year, they pick 12 artists to design pianos to be placed in hosted public places around the city.

In designing the piano, I wanted to use the techniques I had developed in my PIECE exhibit and explore how they could be applied to a three-dimensional surface. Nearly 2000 individual pieces, sourced from old cross-stitch patterns, were affixed to the exterior of this Yamaha upright piano and covered with a UV-protective clear coat to protect it from the summer elements.

The gridwork textures of these pieces are like a form of analog pixelation, applied as an abstract, patchwork landscape. Rather than design an individualized piece, I used a pallet of warm colors to blend the piano into the public environment of the installation site.