Artist Statement
Decomposing Pianos represent freedom within the confines of a structured system. Nature and technology are influential as both lead to ephemeral and fleeting moments of truth, which Decomposing Pianos strives to discover. This is the dominant foundation of their work. Truth. As such, they are not limited to a single medium or process. Instead they focus on developing the tools and methods needed for the framework of their ideas, such that each idea can become an experience. Often their work is time-based, where the limitations of the structured system are tested through live performance. Should their work be a completed installation or produced segment, it will invariably be the result of the same process, of the same careful planning and spontaneous direction that brings them to the unexpected.
Biography
Decomposing Pianos are Julia Krolik and Owen Fernley, an improvisational experimental duo, and the namesake of the Grad Club's old piano at Queen's University. Broken in a routine move across the hall, the two inherited this in their backyard, full of old matchbooks, coins and oddities. It was the subject of a documentary they produced for CBC's Living Out Loud while in residency with New Adventures in Sound Art in Toronto, Ontario. Three years of audio was assembled over a narrative that depicted the piano's last days at open mics and its subsequent move, the passing seasons, and a final concert on its centennial anniversary to honour the enduring instrument. Since then Decomposing Pianos paid homage to the pump organ in Languishing Bellows, and addressed the disposable, fast-paced society in which we live with Noise of the Modern Day World. Recently they met 88 individuals, sonifying one person born for each year from 1924 to 2011 by mapping them to a piano keyboard. This project, entitled 88 Years, debuted in Kingston at the Screening Room and will be presented at TedXQueensU this October. It has been featured in Ottawa Life Magazine and will be presented in Ottawa soon. They tour, though not extensively, as they parent their child and work full time: one as a molecular researcher, and the other as a geophysicist. Their remaining time is spent working on ideas and testing them before audiences. They care deeply about their local arts community, and participate directly by playing and attending local concerts and events. Julia Krolik is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Modern Fuel ARC, and both have enjoyed working with CFRC 101.9 FM, Kingston's local campus community radio station.