Play Me I’m Yours

Luke Jerram

See images from the community piano painting day held on August 14, 2010

Touring the globe since March 2008, ‘Play Me I’m Yours’ is an artwork by Luke Jerram. Street pianos are appearing in cities across the world in skate parks, industrial estates, laundrettes, precincts, bus shelters and train stations to act as a catalyst for strangers who regularly occupy the same space, to talk and connect with one another.

The art work aims to disrupt people’s negotiation of their city and provoke people into engaging, activating and claiming ownership of their urban landscape. Each piano acts as a sculptural, musical, blank canvas that becomes a reflection of the communities they are embedded into. The pianos are often personalised and decorated by local groups, children and artists, and who plays them and how long they remain is up to each community.

A websites (www.01sjpiano.com) has been set up to document each piano’s journey in San Jose.

To date 112 pianos have been installed in cities including London, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Bristol, Birmingham and Bury St. Edmunds. In 2010 ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ will be presented in London, Bath, Belfast, Barcelona, Pécs(Hungary), Cincinnati, and San Jose(US).

This project is presented with support from Intacct.