Art
Irvington & W. Fairview Avenues - Bill Billec - Blue Suede Shoes
- Item Number
- 104
- Estimated Value
- Priceless
- Leading Bid
- 100 USD
- Number of Bids
- 1 - Bid History
Item Description
Artist Bill Billec’s mother was a shoe designer, so riffing on “Blue Suede Shoes” for his second painted SOPAC piano seemed to make sense on several levels. Something about the misspelling of “suede” in the original Carl Perkins’ lyric caught his eye (swade); and he went with it. Once deciding on his theme, Bill took it to the extreme of adding sawdust to his paint to recreate the visual texture of suede on part of the wooden surface of the piano, while attaching blue faux-suede to the back of the instrument to take the idea a step further. Upon opening the instrument, inside he found that the hammers which hit the strings and make the sound of each individual note actually look like little suede shoes. This “happy accident” led him to paint the wooden handles of the hammers blue and replace the front of the upright with a plexi-glass plate, so that people have a window into the upright’s inner workings; 88 tiny little “shoes” dancing around to make beautiful music!
So stop by Bill’s piano and see if it “persuades” you to sit down and play a few notes. The artist actually doesn’t mind if you “step on” his piano’s pedals; in fact, he seems to be teasing, “Step on my shoes! Go ahead, step on my blue suede shoes!”
Item Special Note
SOPAC makes no guarantees regarding the current or final condition, nor playability, of any piano associated with Playin’ Around South Orange. This piano is available for viewing at its current location, the corner of Irvington and West Fairview Avenues. This piano is available for pick-up only, on or about October 5, 2015.
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