"Caruso's Dream" is a new public art installation by Brian Goggin and Dorka Keehn displayed at 55 9th Street near Market. The recently installed work is a canopy of glass pianos with orchestrated lights and music hanging off the side of an apartment complex. The lights were choreographed by Gabriel Rey-Goodlatte (amazing last name alert) to be viewed while listening to recordings of Enrico Caruso, an opera singer who visited this very spot during the 1906 Earthquake.
This installation was inspired by Caruso's imagined dreams the night of the earthquake and how unreal it must have been for him to wake to a natural disaster his eyes could hardly believe. To hear the accompanying recordings of Caruso, visitors can tune into 90.6 FM – so if you're planning a visit, remember to bring a radio!
If this installation seems familiar, it may be because Goggin and Keehn are the same creative folks behind the suspended glowing books at Broadway and Columbus called "Language of Birds." Goggin is also known for another iconic piece involving things hanging off of buildings (furniture) titled "Defenestration." The project on 9th Street was commissioned by the building's developer Avalon Bay as part of the city's 1% tax for the arts.
Photos courtesy of Michael Rauner