By May Zhee Lim, Markets Media Life Correspondent
For ten exclusive nights, classical music meets visual art in a genre-bending collaboration between a Turner Prize-winning artist and a virtuoso pianist. Set to take place at the Park Avenue Armory, Douglas Gordon and Hélène Grimaud’s performance piece centers around the theme of water, hence the title "tears become… streams become…"
The evening promises a classical music program of water-themed works by Debussy, Ravel, and Liszt, performed in a thematically transformed music venue. The 55,000 square foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall will hold a large body of water that harnesses light, reflection, music, and sound, reinventing the concert-going experience for the audience. A mini reproduction of the concert will also take place during the day, when the large-scale installation is open for public viewing. The daytime exhibit will have a self-playing piano enhancing the ambience with music meant to evoke past performances and offer a glimpse of future ones.
Deeply moving and brilliantly immersive, tears become…streams become… is about finding new spaces for art to thrive. The confluence of stirring music and exquisite architecture will hopefully heighten the viewers’ sense of surroundings and make them see one of the city’s most historic sites in a new light. In the words of the artist himself, “…as the water collects, the space it inhabits will never be the same again.”
Tickets and hours to the Park Avenue Armory are available at http://www.armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/tears_become_streams_become
Featured image via Park Avenue Armory