translate/mistranslate

We were given a new brief called translate/mistranslate. We had to dig up an old piece of work and reinterpret it. the piece of old work I used was a poem called ‘The Steinway’

And so you play me,

Like the old Steinway

Heaving notes and semi quavers,

Dancing fingers, dripping in rhythm,

Tapping notes with jerks and reaching fingers.

You buckle me over the lid

Expertly manipulate a chord,

D minus, F flat, GGGG A sharp

And pressing the key that pushes the hammer

That hit’s the string, that vibrates this music inside me

You play me and play me and play me

You know this tune by heart

Each crescendo, undulation, change in tempo

And you play me, my love

Like the old Steinway

This poem is quite sexual and also quite painful, its longing but not having.

The piece I created for this poem I think so far is some of my best work. I am extremely proud of it and it turned out better than I thought it would. I made the hands using alginate moulds and paraffin wax, I then attached them to the board with bolts and connected the fingers with black cotton string. The concept is that the hands are connected and are playing each other’s strings, like said in the poem. I installed this piece in the outside quad of my university and I got some interesting feedback, like the colours of the piece being nice and reflective to each other. The white hands, white boards vs the black string. One girl said that it reminded her of the children’s game the cats cradle.

I am not as happy with the other pieces I produced for this project, as I don’t think they were up to the same standard as this piece. it has been a good learning experience and it has set me up to work more in 3D and sculpture which is something I have been wanting to do for a while.