Blood Piano (2011)
'BLOOD PIANO' explores notions of feminity and the abject within the framework of music performance as a transgressive act. Drawing on the myth of Sisyphus, an upright piano was dragged through Belfast city centre recalling Charles Rosen's statement that the piano is '[...] a lumbering and embarrassingly inconvenient prehistoric beast on the point of extinction' (Rosen, 2002: 56). The piano was then installed in PS2 Gallery where a series of choreographic interventions with the piano explored themes of effort, desire and repetition. In this second section a mechanism was fitted into the interior of the piano to give the appearance of bleeding from the keys as it was played. Finally, the piano was left to 'bleed out' its remaning contents, which formed a thick pool of blood across the gallery floor.
Performed by Mads Floor Andersen and Sheena Kelly. Directed by Imogene Newland and photographed by Chris Parker. Reference: Rosen, C., 2002. Piano Notes: The Hidden World of the Pianist. London: Penguin Books Ltd.