Upon entering the room housing Katie Paterson's installation, Earth-Moon-Earth, my first understanding of the piece was that a ghost was supposed to have been playing Moonlight Sonata, badly. I then though that the player-piano had been programmed incorrectly on purpose to mimic the endearing qualities of human error. Finally I wandered to the wall where there was a pair of headphones next to the score of the piece. In the headphones a crackly morse code was being tapped out. Beside the score was an explanation:

E.M.E (Earth-Moon-Earth) is a form of radio transmission whereby messages are sent in Morse code from earth, reflected from the surface of the moon, and then received back on earth.

The moon reflects only part of the information back - some is absorbed in its shadows, "lost" in its craters.


For this work, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata has been translated into Morse code
and sent to the moon via E.M.E. Returning to earth "fragmented" by the moon's surface, it has been re-translated into a new score, the gaps and absences becoming intervals and rests.

In the exhibition space the new "moon-altered" score plays on a Disklavier grand piano.

Such an elegant and tightly realized installation. Earth-Moon-Earth is on display as a part of the UNIVERSAL CODE exhibition at The Power Plant in Toronto until August 30th.

See a video and more images from the installation on KATIE PATERSON'S WEBSITE.

Labels: ART

POSTED BY GRAYDON AT 7/26/2009 -

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