Deconstructed Anthems

Working with artist Ekene Ijeoma, I created an “anti-player piano” for a performance piece, shown at Boston Center for the Arts.

The project included a system of 88 solenoid actuators that disable piano keys as a performer plays through the national anthem. The keys are disabled based on a generative algorithm that uses incarceration rate data to determine the speed of notes being removed.

I designed custom aluminum hardware to fit inside an upright piano and a stack of h-bridge PCBs that communicate over i2c and send 12v pulses to control the solenoids. A main control box mounted on the piano with a microcontroller, OLED display, encoder, and SD card reader allows the performer to change settings and start the program during a performance.

More info: Boston Art Review