Street Pianos

Some artist called Luke Jerram has had the bright idea of putting pianos in public places in cities for punters and passers-by to play on — and this "Play Me, I'm Yours" project, as it's called, has just reached New York City. Above, one of the pianos is given the once-over in Times Square.

Here is a map of all 60 pianos available (between 9am and 10pm daily) around the five boroughs:

Jerram, the artist behind the plethora of pianos, has produced some interesting art, from intricate glass models of viruses and microbes, to this wind pavilion, below, which looks and possibly sounds far more interesting than passing one of his dingy pianos and hearing someone droning out their down-tempo version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

UPDATE: from Inner City Press by Matthew Lee, who reports lovingly on the Bronx because it is his home:

The “Play Me, I'm Yours” public arts project people put only four pianos in the Bronx, unlike other boroughs. Then, or and so, two of the four got broken, including the one at Fordham Road...

Somehow all this honkytonkytalk made me think back to the 17th century inventor Athanasius Kircher, who invented the Cat Piano. Several cats were lined up in a cage attached to a piano keyboard and when a key was struck, a cat would receive a sharp poke in the ass, and would screech accordingly... See below.