Australian government funds piano massacre
September 4, 2006 by Andy
A piano cut up in the name of art was funded by “Arts Queensland” to the tune of AUS$3000.
Rebecca Cunningham gave her talented performance - ripping through it with a chainsaw. But hey, it’s art - well she and some government officials that have probably never heard Rachmaninov (or even Chopsticks played by a fervent 4-year-old) thought so anyway.
“It seems a bit silly and very sad,” said piano teacher Deanne Scott. “I teach plenty of children whose parents can’t afford a piano and they would have loved the chance to have this one.”
Well, it makes these chisel antics seem positively pedestrian. At least the piano stays intact.
What do you reckon? With pianos being so expensive (mind you for AU$3000 it can’t have been a top-of-the-line one, thank goodness) is this a fair use of resources? Or should pianos be fair game for ‘art’ as everything else is?
(Via Courier Mail)
I would like to report an instance of misrepresentation.I am Rebecca Cunningham.
Yes I was paid $3,000 AUD effectively by the Australian government to curate FLUX-US. NONE OF THIS MONEY WAS SPENT ON THAT PIANO. It was old, broken, water damaged, and donated by my local church. I think what was missed in this whole debacle, now almost 2 years ago, was that FLUX-US was a coming together of 30 artists presenting 50 fluxus works, all for $3,000 AUD So divide 30 artists by $3,000. In my opinion, this was far from a gross wasting of government funds - It was a bargain.
Yes true but not emotive enough for local media. The piano which was ’sacrificed’ for this performance was beyond use as a musical instrument. Rebecca is a musician - she would never demolish an instrument suitable for use by any child (or adult) for genuine musical development