On January 4, New York City’s Park Avenue Armory was flooded. But it was far from the disaster it sounds like. The flood was caused by the art installation “Tears Become … Streams Become …”, a vision of Scottish video and installation artist Douglas Gordon. The 55,000-square-foot floor of the armory was filled during a 10-minute piece performed by French pianist Hélène Grimaund. “When artists get these visions it’s our job to build them,” Rebecca Robertson, president and executive producer of Park Avenue Armory, explains on Wired.com. This time that vision was created via a false floor built on top of the Armory’s regular floor. It had to be perfectly leveled in order to create the proper illusion. During the performance nine pumps added water that rose just .75 inches above the surface, pooling around the pianist. And due to the danger of exposing a piano to humidity the water had to be kept at precisely 55 degrees and the air at 70 degrees.
Piano Concert Creates Flood
