EUTERPE

For a single evening, the old piano factory “Euterpe” was brought back to life in remembrance for Lena Loy’s diploma project.
Building upon prior research and countless interviews with former employees, the scenographer cited and interpreted their thoughts on work and on work processes in the context of the “production of music”, as well as on the temporal and emotional complexity of the place.
Interventions were installed in the forest clearing of the former factory site, in relation to the former building layout. The selection of the staged areas were stipulated by the thematic focus on the company founder and on the opera singer Carl Müller, as well as the musical placement of noises produced in piano production.
Based solely on interviewee statements, Lena Loy reconstructed the spaces and objects in fragments, partly through material, partly through sound and video, and made these available for the visitor to experience.
Furthermore, the installation serves as a stimulus for the memories of the invited former employees. In an immediate way, her freely shared narratives and signs complement the intervention. The “Euterpians” thereby became not only a part of the viewing public, but also actors without the need for any stage directions.
The intervention concluded in a communal dinner in the former canteen, replicating a “Euterpe regulars’ table”, which still takes place twice a year, twenty-four years after the closing of the company.