INDEX
A “Piano Tuned by Nature” Found in the Disaster Zone
IS YOUR TIME by Ryuichi Sakamoto with Shiro Takatani is a work where I highly recommend reading the explanation to understand its meaning. The grand piano, standing between a video of a snowy sky and a water basin, belongs to the Miyagi Prefectural Agricultural High School, which was affected by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Sakamoto interpreted this as a “piano tuned by nature” and created the work based on that concept. The piano, which has ceased to be a musical instrument and returned to a “thing,” endures the gaze of the viewer, yet occasionally produces sound. According to the explanation, “The piano, having lost its function and role as a musical instrument, emits sound based on earthquake data from around the world, playing the Earth’s tremors between the sky and the sea (the interstice).” There is a slight sense of surprise when the silence, which one expects to continue, is suddenly broken.
