sandbar piano stunt: a view from above

 

 

 

 victor E. Alarcon moved back to Miami post college in D.C. and is taking photos. 

 

 So, did you hear about the piano on the sandbar, grab your camera and jump in a helicopter?

  Actually, a friend, Cecile Garcia gave me a heads up about the piano the day of it's appearance, and I wasn't able to make it out there that day. I recently decided to get my pilot license, and my instructor, Blake Stetler and I, decided to do a pleasure flight the next day to see if we could find it by air.

 

This was a mysterious act that went viral and became a newsworthy sensation. Turns out, it was a sixteen year old inspired by Banksy. Thoughts?

I think it's great. It's a shame it's already removed. Miami is a relatively nascent city in many ways, and I think it's important that as this city gains it's identity, especially an artistic identity, there should be support for organic, nonthreatening and nonviolent art projects like these.

 

What where some of your thoughts as you were looking at this strange phenomenon/practical joke/art piece?

There were so many thoughts running through my head: Why? How was/were they able to place the piano on the sandbar? How did they know that that sandbar in particular was above sea level at the highest tide?

 

Can you tell me a little bit how you decided, technically, how to shoot this?

It was actually the first day I brought my Nikon with a polarized filter up with me. I owe it all to Blake. He took over the controls, and allowed me to focus on the shots. As to the technicality, I always shoot fully manual, but had never shot aerial shots before, so I was just going with it, and was hoping nothing came out of focus.

 

The Coast Guard had released a statement that they weren't planning on removing the piano unless it proved to be ecologically treacherous, but then a Palmetto Bay resident and his ten year old son (does something about this sound strange?) decided to pay to have it removed. What the eff?

I personally think it's ridiculous. If Coast Guard was willing to leave it, I think as a city we should've embraced it and left it or at the very least should've left it up to debate.