The Styro-tone Grand Piano at The Orphic Gallery
“This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my life” exclaimed Orphic Gallery patron Sally White upon viewing Ken Butler’s Styro-tone Grand Piano: a Rhythm Reliquary. The piano is the centerpiece of Butler’s Instrumental Desire: Strings Attached and will be featured in the performance at the gallery on Saturday, August 9th at 7 pm.
Made from street-found Styrofoam containers and other detritus, the sculpture plays with the idea of reliquaries (sacred objects) presented in a kind of natural history museum environment, referencing a cabinet of curiosities. Constructions of horseshoe shell crabs, insects, violin parts, and other found objects reflect the iconography of string instruments. The lightness of the material makes it very portable, and although playable as a percussion instrument (amplified with multiple transducers), it is predominantly a visual piece with only one string and no keyboard.
The Styro-tone, however, will be played on Saturday evening by Ken and an all-star ensemble who will demonstrate its sonic prowess along with other instruments in the exhibit and of their own devising. On that evening Ken will perform with Ed Potokar, Ernie Brooks and Michael Suchorsky. The performance on August 9th will begin right at 7 pm and last approximately one hour to be followed by a reception.
In the interim, the exhibit may be seen during the gallery’s normal business hours, Wednesday through Sunday 12 to 5 and by appointment. The Orphic Gallery is located at 53525 State Highway 30 in Roxbury, NY, the corner of Main and Bridge Streets, where art and music collide.
For further information on Instrumental Desire: Strings Attached or the Orphic Gallery, please contact Phil Lenihan at phil@orphicgallery.com or 607-326-6045.
