Michael Frassinelli • Artist

One in a series of panoramic views of The Pianista Traveling Museum exhibit at the Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA, May 2018

Pianista Traveling Museum - Panoramic view of small side installation "The Hidden Workshop of Alfonzo Veneto" from the exhibit The Pianista Traveling Museum

Time-lapse film of the folding up and rolling out of the Pianista Traveling Museum Show Wagon, from the exhibit by artist Michael Frassinelli at the Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA, May 4th-27th, 2018

Slideshow and lecture by artist Michael Frassinelli of the fictional Pianista culture during the Closing Reception of his sculptural installation The Pianista Traveling Museum, at the Piano Craft Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts May 26, 2018

Part One of a two or three part series documenting the history of the Pianista Peoples of North America, produced by artist Michael Frassinelli from the Legend of the Pianista series (www.michaelfrassinelli.com) Legend of the Pianistas: The Unbelievable History of a Curious People, Part One - a Film by Michael Frassinelli Share Legend of the Pianistas: The Unbelievable History of a Curious People, Part One - a Film by Michael FrassinelliNOT YET RATED 3 weeks agoMore Michael FrassinelliPLUS Settings Get team collaboration, video engagement graphs, and more player customization. Upgrade now. 6 0 0 0 Download Share Documentary of the Pianista Peoples of North America, a little-known tribe, most likely descended from sailors lost at sea during Italian explorations of the New World, living in the shadows of both the white and Native American cultures, surviving on nothing but salvaged piano parts. In this thought-provoking film, the history of the culture is explored, profusely illustrated with examples of their fascinating artifacts, found throughout the continental United States and as far North as Alaska. Mostly based on the writings of 19th century historian and Pianista collector Nathanial Greenville, the film also includes recent discoveries that may throw doubt on some long-held beliefs about this complex society. At the time the film was produced, some contemporary research and ground-breaking discoveries point to some discrepancies in accepted Pianista history, an introduce the idea that perhaps some, if not all, of the known artifacts and writings may have come from an Italian immigrant from the late 19th century named Alfonzo Veneto, a handyman, art restorer, and docent at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, from its founding in 1893 (after the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago) to 1938. Originally a piano tuner by trade, a craftsman in a variety of materials, and a self-taught folk artist Veneto, who may have suffered from a variety of mental problems, was known to have created numerous Pianista replicas for the Field Museum during his tenure there. But some experts now believe that he alone, with the help of a handful of associates, may have used his position and long tenure at the museum to create what could be the biggest anthropological hoax in American history. In Part Two of this film (due out in the summer of 2019) this new information is more fully explored, experts in the field are interviewed, and newly discovered objects are analyzed, including over 50 paintings illustrating Pianista masks and other artifacts worn by members of tribe, a life-sized Sideshow Wagon, Cabinets of Curiosity, and scores of masks, weapons, and other objects found after the filming of Part One. The dramatic discovery of Veneto's hidden workshop, hitherto unknown and uncovered during recent renovation and expansion of the Field Museum, as well as his personal handwritten journal (in which Veneto confesses to the hoax) bring further evidence to the minds of contemporary art historians, anthropologists, and psychologists that the extra ordinary catalog of Pianista artifacts, previously displayed in museums and written about in journals, may well have all been made and distributed by a prolific and slightly disturbed outsider artist from Chicago.

Short music video featuring nickelodeon and vaudeville star Miss "B" The Incredible Dancing Bird, from artist and producer Michael Frassinelli