This is a bit of a throwback, as this exhibition opened in 2009 while I was bopping around a college campus, reading books and living off dumplings, a good four years before I started to think about what it might mean to be "fully" immersed in a piece of art. David Byrne, meanwhile, was attaching an old pump organ to the literal bones of the Roundhouse for the UK premiere of "Playing the Building," an experience which expands, literally, what it means to "play."
Imagine an old pump organ, set at the heart of the Roundhouse, with a series of low-tech cables and wires attached to the buildings pillars, pipes and beams. Then imagine the ping, rattle and blow as they vibrate and resonate in response to the organ keys, and the building itself becomes a giant musical instrument.
I've always thought that buildings had distinct personalities. David Byrne taught this one how to sing.
