I have always thought 20th Century Recall by Hagetaka Funjo was an interesting work. There is a lot more than meets the eye when you see it and you really need to get up close to it. Most people will take a quick photo pretending to play the piano and then leave, but there is so much more to this piece that you really have to look at it carefully.
20th Century Recall (2013)
20th Century Recall
The piano itself is a simple black grand piano with sails on top, but when you look at the overall shape, it really looks like a ship at the same time. The piano’s shape is manipulated a bit to look like the hull of a ship. When I was there in 2013, they had wind chimes on it and it really made the piece work perfectly as the sails and the wind chimes created a beautiful musical note. I can’t remember completely but I do believe there is music that is played from the piano from time to time, if not all the time during the day.
20th Century Recall
20th Century Recall by
Unfortunately, the keys are all locked but there is music prepared for you to play. The title of the song is “20th Century Response” and why it is response and not recall is unknown to me. I still think it is interesting and wonder what the music would sound like if it was played. There are only 2 pages of sheet music so it probably wouldn’t sound like much.
20th Century Recall
20th Century Response
Playing 20th Century Recall with an Audience
Information
20th Century Recall (Official Setouchi Triennale Site)