Commissioned especially for the Hyde Park Festival; by the band Mumford & Sons. They asked 4 different artists to decorate some old pianos. We were honored to up-cycle this beautiful old girl that lived through the Second World War, and was now delivered to us, for another round at life as an interactive social art piece- now living in the Red Room in the Omeara Clubs Artists room, receiving writings from the best performers in the world.
We received her at The Art Factory, the studio we hired to work on this ton of Piano. As we took her apart to paint her, we admired the craftsmanship that went into her, the mastery of the human hand, not only to construct the piano, but the ability of the human hand to play it. Precision grip, the ability to precisely bring the index finger to the thumb is one of our defining traits as Homo Sapiens.
The Concept for The Piano
So we dedicated the piece to the human hand.. we took molds of our hands & the hands of our friend who could sit still for 30 minutes.
We chiselled and glued the hands to swim and play throughout the piano, playing her keys as we went along, enjoying the sounds and reviving this wonderful old girl that had survived the Second World War!
When she was done, 7 sleepless nights later, we stood back proud and exhausted and realized this beautiful pristine white piano was going to a festival with over 100,000 people and the chances of her staying pristine was about the same chance a public toilet has of smelling of roses.
So we decided to embrace the chaos and hand over the piano with her new found hands gifting crayons to decorate her with the words and thoughts of all that surrounded her; we literally left the piano in everyone's hands.
What did She Become in Everyone's Hands?
After trotting around the festival half-asleep but delighted to enjoy the live music of such talented artists, we went to visit our old friend. And there she was, beaming with a rainbow of messages, thanking the boys in the band for their gifts; messages of fathers to their sons; protests of Thatcher's Britain. She was missing a few fingers, but became a reflection of her people.
Where did the Piano in Everyone's Hands End Up?...
She currently lives in Omeara, the beautiful live music venue in London Bridge, owned by Ben Lovett, the pianist in the Mumford & Sons band. And she continues to receive messages from all the talented musicians that play at Omeara.
It was a wonderful project, we adored doing it, and seeing her evolve and be so appreciated by Ben, whom we call the Godfather of the arts. Thank you to the band for thinking of us, and for having the idea to give a new lease of life to old pianos.
If you are interested in booking us for an artful workshop please click here