Attempting Play (2006)
'ATTEMPTING PLAY' draws on the event 'Piano Burning' by Annea Lockwood in which a defunct piano was ritually burnt for the purposes of a sound recording. 'ATTEMPTING PLAY' extends 'Piano Burning' into a performative act, focussing on the reaction of the pianist to the act of burning a piano. Here, the experience of the pianist is posited as the failure to attain a sense of physical unity with the piano, which, in the pianist's imagination, has taken on a symbolic animate value. Allowing the piano to burn becomes not a vengeful act but rather a resignation to the human condition of impermanence, in which the piano emerges as an object that is indifferent to change.
'ATTEMPTING PLAY' was first performed at Rocombe Farm in South Devon. The work could not have taken place without the help of Peter and Susanne Redstone (for their kind offer of the venue), Tim Danemann (for his generous gift of the piano and transport assistance), Chris Parker (art-photography), Dave Harbott (film) and Paul Bull (sound).