Michaela Davies
Documentation of performative experimentation at the Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (2014)
Das Menschen Klavier (The Human Piano) was created for psychiatric purposes, to treat chronic daydreaming in patients who have lost the ability to focus their attention, and to raise the spirits of melancholic subjects.
With the touch of a key an electric shock is delivered to the bell ringer, forcing their muscles to contract so they shake a bell involuntarily. The bells are ordered in pitch corresponding to the notes played on the keyboard.
Das Menschen Klavier was developed based upon the medical potential of the Katzen Klavier (Cat Organ) described by German psychiatrist Johann Christian Reil in 1803. This conjectural instrument was proposed as a cure for the mentally disturbed.
Scientific research into the effectiveness of Das Menschen Klavier as a psychiatric treatment is ongoing.
DAS MENSCHEN KLAVIER