And I incorporated these metal structures onto this вЂњcreature.вЂќ So itвЂ™s got long legs, itвЂ™s got what I call these metal wings, itвЂ™s got three different toy piano keyboards on it and I left it ripped-apart looking, because thatвЂ™s its aesthetic. I found some interesting metal structures that happened to, absolutely coincidentally, have metal rods on them that were purely decorative that were very similar to the rods on the inside of the toy piano. The metal rod and the action mechanism by which a toy piano makes its sound and the keys are there, but I sort of Frankensteined them together into this multilevel instrument where you can stand in the center and reach over and combine playing on any of the three in different ways. WRIGHT: Basically, what itвЂ™s made out of is the guts of three toy pianos that I took apart and changed the hammers of.

So in some ways, this has been a therapeutic thing, messing around with these objects and not being afraid to smash them and destroy them as well as cherish them and polish them.ДЄW: I have to ask you about All Imaginable Actions Must Be Taken because IвЂ™m really curious about the Chimaera. We learn about climate change, we start to understand the scope of it and we donвЂ™t know what to do with all of that anxiety. ItвЂ™s disturbing, but itвЂ™s been an amazing way to get out a lot of her anxiety, because no doubt, these kids are stressed. And it shows some of these little snippets when weвЂ™re in lessons and we have a plastic clamshell or the detergent bottle and weвЂ™re saying, вЂњWhat can we combine it with? Is it a good resonating body? Should we stretch some rubber bands over it and see what that does? Can you blow into it? Can it be like a wind resonator? Does it sound good to destroy this thing? Is that part of what weвЂ™re maybe trying to express?ДЄt least one of вЂњplaysвЂќ her instrument by pretty much ripping it apart. Part of the show is this 12-minute documentary about the making of the T.I.s. But the great thing about kids is that they just arenвЂ™t saddled with all these ideas about how the world should be.

Everybody has this percussive approach to the world, which is very fun. WRIGHT: The first thing that occurs to humans, if you give anybody anything and say, вЂњLetвЂ™s make a noise out of it,вЂќ they either hit it or they hit something with it. Can you talk about the process of getting a sound out of objects like that? That was a terrible thing to have to work though, but then she was like, вЂњIвЂ™m plastic, because ocean plastic is not okay.вЂќ It was a process of discovery for the kids that was incredibly powerful, and that is what has come out in their transmogrified instruments.ДЄW: A bit ago, you brought up a detergent bottle. You know, one of my students got really upset when she saw a picture of a giant sea turtle that had a plastic straw up its nose, and it was drowning. And often it would click in with something that they personally cared about. WRIGHT: researched plastic and metal and mining and strip miningвЂ“and what all these things weвЂ™re doing to the environment. TheyвЂ™ve internalized it.ДЄW: Where does the process of building instruments out of trash begin? The idea is that making art changes the artist. So thatвЂ™s why I decided to involve my students, because if I could engage them and get them to do a long-term projectвЂ“it just became a normal part of their vocabulary. ItвЂ™s too much to think about when youвЂ™re trying to get your kidsвЂ™ lunches packed for school and pay your taxes, you know what I mean? Life is hard enough. JENNIFER WRIGHT: ItвЂ™s always questionable whether you can do that at all, right? I think when youвЂ™re dealing with a really difficult, overwhelming, very negative subject like climate change, itвЂ™s very scary and the potential for people to want to just close off and not engage is huge. The Phoenix Project: Art in the Time of Climate Emergency at BodyVox Theater, November 14.ДЄRTS WATCH: When you sit down to create something like The Phoenix Project, are you thinking, вЂњHow do I create something so memorable and powerful that people are going to say, вЂThis actually changes the way I thinkвЂ™?вЂќ We talked about the creation of the Skeleton Piano, the challenges of fusing art and activism, All Imaginable Actions Must Be Taken-a piece in the concert that features a new, multi-keyboard instrument called the Chimaera-and much more. Recently, I spoke to Wright about The Phoenix Project.

Tiny piano blow into