WNYC News A Concert with Two Pianos and 122,000 Gallons of Water Saturday, December 13, 2014 By Gisele Regatao : Senior Editor, Culture, WNYC News French pianist Hélène Grimaud performs at major concert halls — this year she has played at the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin and at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. But this week she is at Park Avenue Armory, her toes dipped in one inch of cold water that almost entirely fills the 55,000-square-foot drill hall. Grimaud is collaborating with Scottish artist Douglas Gordon in a piece called “Tears Become… Streams Become…” The monumental installation and performance piece was commissioned by Park Avenue Armory and draws inspiration from water and light. It’s one of the most fascinating experiences I ever had, said Grimaud. “It’s the unknown, it’s the fact that you feel you are playing in this matrix, in this vortex.” The piece consists of two Steinway pianos that sit on a pool of 122 thousand gallons of water, designed by Gordon. Grimaud performs in one of them, while light reflectors project images of the other on dark walls. What were trying to do here is illuminate through darkness, said Gordon. “Normally on this space you look up — I wanted everyone to look down,” he said. This is Gordon’s first piece with water. He has worked with film, installation and text. His piece k.364, from 2010, presents two Israeli musicians of Polish descent traveling from Berlin to Warsaw. He also did the feature film “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait,” which captures the movements of the French soccer player Zinedine Zidane through seventeen synchronized cameras. Alex Poots, Helene Grimaud and Douglas Gordon talking about Tears Become... Streams Become... at Park Avenue Armory. (Gisele Regatao) The program of “Tears Become… Streams Become…” consists of water-themed works by Debussy, Ravel, Liszt, and others, each picked by Grimaud. “A lot of them have an endless nostalgia,” she said. Grimaud is also a wildlife conservationist and she said she is interested in water as “the most vital and precious of our resources.” Gordon and Grimaud were introduced by Alex Poots, current artistic director of the Armory, who in September will take over as artistic director and chief executive of Culture Shed, the performing-arts institution planned for the Hudson Yards. Rebecca Robertson, president and executive producer of Park Avenue Armory, said the piece represents the philosophy of the space, which is to do what artists want. “We call it the culture of yes,” she said. But the scale of the project was a little intimidating. “It was terrifying, to tell you the truth,” she said. The water-filling process was done by an engineer firm called Arup. It took them about two and a half weeks to build the space, which has several liners that include cement bricks and pipes. The water is cooled because of the two Steinway pianos that occupy the space. “Audiences want more now,” said Robertson. “This notion of re-inventing the concert experience means that you are going to attract a much larger audience, people will understand the work in a much different way.” The cold water presented a footwear challenge for Grimaud, though. She couldn’t play barefoot without risking getting sick, and the rubber soles of rain boots made noise on the pedals. She ended up wearing white Doc Martens. “Tears Become… Streams Become…” is on view as an installation during the day through Jan. 4, 2015. Grimaud’s performances go until Dec. 21, 2014.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:21:50 +0000
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