Piano Piece #13 (after George Maciunas)

On Sunday, 10 July, 2001, US experimental rock band Sonic Youth played De Vooruit’s Theaterzaal. It was a performance in connection with their album ‘Goodbye 20th Century’, which featured performances of works by avant-garde composers such as John Cage, Yoko Ono and Steve Reich.

The band also recorded ‘Piano Piece #13 (Carpenter’s Piece) for Nam June Paik’ (1962) by George Maciunas . Maciunas is one of the founders of the international art movement Fluxus, which played an important role in the 1960s and 1970s by questioning the limits of art. Among other things, Fluxus organised low-threshold ‘happenings’ that brought together visual art and music.

The performance began with Coco Hayley Gordon Moore, the six-year-old daughter of Sonic Youth band members Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, playing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ on her toy piano. Closing act was ‘Piano Piece #13’, in which the band members took turns pounding 15cm nails into the keys of the piano. Not a toy piano this time, but a real one.

The band has played ‘Piano Piece #13’ live only four times worldwide. The piano has remained at De Vooruit ever since as a memento of this memorable performance. On our website, you can watch a video in which Thurston Moore – who visited again in 2011 for a Democrazy concert – is reunited with the piano and reminisces about the performance. For those who can’t bear to see a piano come to harm, there is also an audio recording of the performance, which you can listen to on our website.

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The band played 'Piano Piece #13' live only four times worldwide. The piano always remained in De Vooruit afterwards, as a memento of the memorable performance. In the video you see how Thurston Moore, visiting us again in 2011, is reunited with the piano and reminisces about the performance.

Listen to the recording

For carpentry-enthusiasts, there is also an audio recording of the entire show at De Vooruit. 'Piano Piece' is the third track:

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