Pianic Room

(2024)

Typing the original title (Panic Room) one letter a time, each time pressing the key on the computer keyboard as fast as possible, repeating each one 840 times.

The Morse code-like result, plus the reference to Erik Satie’s well known 19th century composition “Vexations” which calls for 840 repetitions, both products of the 19th-century, are here translated to a frenzied and frenetic pace to reflect 21st-century’s chronic calamities: wanton cruelties, unchecked profiteering, mindless posturing, endless austerities, atrocity exhibitions, and planetary woes.

First presented as part of “Piano, Alone in a Room”, curated by Sam Anthem.

A live-streamed series of coded and realtime player piano activations on Saturday March 23, 2024 at 1pm (CST).

Documentation of the event accessible through Experimental Sound Studio’s YouTube channel here.

Presented by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Art + Technology/Sound Practices.

Participating artists: Andrew Monks, Austen Brown, Blue McCall, Chris Brown, Christof Migone, Doug Rosman, Emrys Brandt, Erez Dessel, Gordon D. Fung, Jan Frohn, Joseph Oakes, Judd Morrissey, Sam Anthem, Kim Nucci, Kristin McWharter, Lorenzo Osterheim, Benjamin Glass, Mauricio López F., Patrick Glennon, Yousif Alzayed, Robb Drinkwater, Seth Cluett, Seth Horvitz, Shawn Decker, and Wiliam Halas.

Thanks to Sam Anthem, Jocelyn Robert.