'PianoBot' - Pianos in the Parks

I recently completed my first public art installation - titled 'PianoBot & Friends' - a painted piano that will be at Seattle's Green Lake Park now through mid-August 2014. The piano is part of a summer Community Parks program running in 20 King County parks titled Pianos In The Parks which aims to engage both existing and new park users by placing painted pianos in strategic locations that function not just as works of art, but also as a musical instrument around which the community can create experiences.

Above is a photo of my painted piano - a giant 'Vintage Robot' along with a bunch of musically inclined animal friends. And here is a video of park users interacting with it:

It was an almost two week project to convert the piano into the final robot. Here is the step by step process:

1. Start with an existing piano and sand down the external finish

2. Coat all the external surfaces with a tinted primer

3. Add some texture and tromp l'oeil patterns with acrylic paint.

4. Add arms. For arms, I found some aluminum ducts at the hardware store that were both flexible and metallic looking, so I thought they would make great additions. The hands are made with industrial quality rubber gloves that are attached to the ducts with aluminum tape. While making the arms I was a little concerned about their durability as the pianos were going to be exposed to the elements (including the elements of society!) but I decided to trust in the goodness of human nature and not use the uglier, sturdier pipes. (Sadly though, my fears subsequently came true when one of the arms was vandalized and crushed - but I was able to fix the arm with copious amounts of duct tape).

5. The next step was to decorate the piano. I had been told the piano was going to Green Lake, a high traffic outdoor location in Seattle that attracts a huge number of kids so I decided to add a few 'friends' to the piano. So in addition to painting on design elements that made it look 'robotic', I also added some musically-inclined friends.

While not overly obvious, the Piano is a celebration of opposites and differences: e.g, Big vs. Small, Hot vs. Cold, Organic vs. Electro-Mechanical, Natural vs. Man-made and so on. Here are some detailed shots:

5a. In between, recruit a few assistants to help you while the idea still excites them

6. The second-last step (not shown) is to put several coats of a semi-gloss finish to protect the paint from the elements. And the last step (shown), is to take the obligatory selfie:

[[ Yeah, I should have been smiling, but I was pretty 'done' by the time I was 'done' :) ]]

Oh, and my 1 minute of fame: http://www.bellevuereporter.com/entertainment/267950101.html