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THE SILVER PIANO
The Silver Piano is an interactive installation/exhibition with
kalimbas not only hung on the gallery walls but also with an army of
electric kalimbas plugged into amplifiers for all to play.
Sometimes referred to as a thumb piano (or mbira, likembe, or sanza),
the basic design concept for the kalimba has been around for thousands
of years.
Inspired by the work of African artists Francis Bebey , Kinshasa's
Konono No.1, as well as American composers Phil Cohran, Yusef Lateef,
and Stanley Cowell, three local artists have been hand-crafting
electric kalimbas and have been organizing art exhibits, concerts and
installations all over the world.
Warren Defever, Hitoko Sakai, and Elliot Bergman began making electric
kalimbas about two years ago. As members of Detroit faves HIS
NAME IS ALIVE and NOMO, these three artists started building their own
musical instruments as needed, and soon inquisitive audiences and other
musicians wanted to know more about the source of the exotic
sounds. They found themselves making more kalimbas and selling
them at concerts. "It got out of hand really quickly," says War,
"We've made about two hundred so far. We recently got a grant and
did a
residency in New York, it was pretty fancy. I'm excited to bring
it home to Detroit."
Three events April 19th - 29th provide everything from thousand year
old earth-toned electronic music to mountains of droning ringing
feedback. THE SILVER PIANO is a performance-based piece and a
celebration of electricity, traditional music and craft, and magical
vibrations!!!
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CONTACT for more info and pics
Gallery Director DAVIN BRAINARD
davin@ufofactory.com
UFO Management DION FISCHER dion@ufofactory.com
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ARTIST STATEMENT by Warn Defever
I haven't completely abandoned commercial music or representational
painting but instead have recently begun a motivational shift from
self-consciously creating objects that were at once explicitly personal
and (lyrics, songs, photographs, portraits, paintings, etc) to
proposing a new relationship between the critic, the collector, and
the casual consumer. The hand crafted kalimba resists persistent
association and comparison to previous work. Minimalist silver
and wooden boxes with small metal tines do not quite confer with
sculptural analytic expectations. My previous work thrived in a
special area I made my own, formed between alternative popular culture
and the imagined mainstream. This new work demonstrates interest
in the specific world of solid objects, objects not in the domain of
abstract insights and symbolic value. The electric kalimba is
labor-intensive, an anonymous investment of craft, and possibly not
even recognized by the high-art tradition which celebrates qualities
such as illusion, religious feeling, dreaming, and artistic creation.
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
April 19 Opening Reception 7-11pm
Electric Kalimbas will be on display, plugged in, turned up, and really
loud
April 26 Electric Kalimba Koncert night 9 -11 pm
the FOREST PEOPLE play electric kalimbas w/ the TERRIBLE TWOS & the
PIZAZZ
April 29 Closing Party 9 -11 pm
NEW BLOODS from Portland OR, UFO PARTY BAND, STEPPIN RAZORS
deejays)
Click HERE
for an audio article from MICHIGAN RADIO.