This sculpture is composed of nearly 700 instruments. Forty are custom-made, computer-controlled self-playing guitars, which perform a series of Trimpin’s compositions expressive of the roots of American popular music (jazz, blues, country, folk and rock).

One of the first things you see upon entering the Experience Music Project in Seattle is a seemingly large musical instrument tornado. It’s comprised of a mismash of guitars, basses, keyboards, banjos, custom self-playing stringed instruments, and a whole heck of a lot of ingenuity. The sculpture was a crowd pleaser and easy conversation piece. I couldn’t seem to stop photographing it.

The artist is Trimpin, a Seattle based artist who’s life story reads like and eclectic novel. In 2009 a movie was made about him.