Matanga, 2012
Sound based installation
10 player pianos hanging from trees
Dimensions according to space

Exhibited in the context of Proyecto Liquido at Fundación Alumnos 47 — a series of performances on the subject of fear— in Mexico City, this sound based installation consisted of ten player pianos hanged from the garden trees of an abandoned house. For twelve hours the player pianos performed simultaneously a selection of classical music pieces by well known composers such as Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Nancarrow, all blending together into a musical cacophony. During the span of the event the public strolled trough the garden at will and entered into the empty rooms of the house to hear the music from within. Matanga dealt with fear as an atmosphere where what is easily recognizable: a house, a garden, a tree, a piano or a classical melody, becomes certainly uncanny.

Photos by Cannon Bernáldez, courtesy of Alumnos 47 and the artist.

Produced by Fundación Alumnos47. Curated by Jessica Berlanga Taylor. General coordination by Emiliano García and Marcelo Rangel. Musical coordination by Jazmín Zepeda. Player piano’s restoration, care and installation by Damián Tinajera y Rodrigo Tinajera. Care of trees and vegetation by Juan Rovalo. Video documentation by inboxfilms.tv. Photography by Lorena Alcaraz and Cannon Bernáldez. Audio recording and advice by Ernesto García. Mixer by Omar Durán and Octavio Cazares. Electrical installation by Cooperativa en Producciones Especializadas (COOPE). Logistics by Hermenegildo Cruz, Alejandro Castellano López and César Raúl Aguilar Aguilar. ALIRTEC. Installation assistants: Arturo Flores, Antonio Colorado, Diego Flores and Manuel Valdivia. Cía. de Paisaje + Flores. Plastic covers by Arturo and Armando Ramírez.