Ástor. Tangible music.

As a native Argentinian, the music of Ástor Piazzolla (1) lives deep in my soul.

The idea for this piece started to grow after attending a workshop on paper engineering with Kelli Anderson. Initially, I wanted to create the word “Astor” in folded paper (2, 3), to emulate his iconic instrument, the bandoneon—a type of concertina popular in Argentina. After some tests, I decided that trying to make the whole word was too complex, so I developed only the letter A (4, 5).

His music is called música ciudadana, “music from the city” of Buenos Aires. Passionate, vibrant, nocturnal, sorrowful, and melancholic, his lyrics and music belong to Buenos Aires’ porteña night. Black paper and very bright blue strokes transmit the feeling of rainy nights and dark spaces. The intentionally illegible text, tangamente enamorada (6) (“tango-ish in love”), is an extract from Balada para mi muerte (“A ballad to my death”).

Because it’s a 3-dimensional piece, it should be seen from many perspectives (7). For that purpose, I created a clamshell case (8) to keep the piece inside, but also to serve as a stand to display it opened, as intended.

Specs:
The black paper is Strathmore. The calligraphy was made with ruling pens and gouache.
The box is 11 x 11 x 2 in., and the “A” folded is approximately 3 x 6 x 1.5 in.