Glowing Cables Transform a Cathedral into a Massive Player Piano

A peculiar piano arrangement played at the deconsecrated church of Notre-Dame d’Harscamp. As part of the 2014 Kikk digital culture festival, which took place over November 6 and 7, 2014, multimedia collective Lab212 devised a multi-sensory experience that turned luminescent cables suspended inside the Belgian cathedral into the triggers of an electromechanical grand player piano.

Known as Portée/, the “minimalist, monumental and interactive” music score, as the artists call it, reimagines the centuries-old space as a giant instrument. “Through a poetic wandering visitors of the church are invited to explore the spatial & interactive qualities of music,” Lab212 explains. “When they touch and trigger vibrations of luminous threads tensed inside the church, the notes associated to each thread are played,” resulting in an immersive acoustic experience that marries the discipline of playing an instrument with the art of play. 

Below, check out Portée/ in action: 

Portée/ — Interactive unfold of a music score in space from Lab212 on Vimeo.

Click here to learn more about Lab212. 

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