MOPC Guitar Sculpture
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 47° 37.268 W 122° 20.875
10T E 548997 N 5274398
This is an interactive sculpture made of hundreds of instruments, mostly guitars. It's about 20' tall, located in the exhibit entry area. The title of the piece is "Roots and Branches", and it was created by the artist, Trimpin.
Waymark Code: WMHW4
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 07/20/2006
Views: 394
PHOTOS ARE ALLOWED IN MUSEUM BUT WITH NO FLASH! When you log this tell me about your visit, what you thought of the Museum of Pop Culture (MOPC) or another part of the Seattle Center complex that you visited.
MOPC is the brainchild of local billionaire, Paul Allen. It houses his enormous collection of music memorabilia and is very fun to visit - especially if you like 60's and early 70's music. This sculpture, Roots and Branches is the centerpiece of the exhibit entry way and is loaded with instruments, spiraling upward like a musical tornado! Along with guitars I spotted a french horn, a keyboard, a double bass, cello,.... Computer touch-screens equipped with earphones guide visitors through various musical permutations as live music, provided by the sculpture itself, plays in the background. Numerous customized robotic guitars attached to the sculpture play music on cue. Each customized guitar plays only one string at a time, so six guitars work together to create the sound of one chord - an effective mechanical metaphor for the way that musical styles and traditions have influenced one another throughout time. There are concerts hosted in this building regularly so be sure to check their website to see if anyone is playing while you're in town. The museum is in an incredibly sculptural building designed by famous architect Frank Gehry and is both loved and hated in the city for it's wild form. The coordinates given are for MOPC's main entrance. Apologies for the dark photo, but it's very dark where the piece is located and I couldn't use a flash in the building.