the creator is paul étienne lincoln who extended his namesake to his instrument. he is a british artist and engineer who resides in new york city, and is an artist of international renown. his work has been displayed in the united states in new york galleries as well as in European venues such as the berlin museum in germany.

as well as an artist, mr. lincoln is an aficionado of music, in particular, of classical music. subsequently, music often plays a part in mr. lincoln's work as it did in his installation exhibited in new york in 2000 at the alexander and bonin gallery. it was entitled, ignisfatuus, featuring the voice of the early twentieth century opera singer rosa ponselle. her voice played an integral role in his installation, providing the precisely timed audio accompaniment to a 29 day lunar cycle, her vocal resonance intensifying as the moon approached the zenith of her fullness in the night sky.

the lincordian was originally a part of a large installation recently exhibited at the alexander and bonin gallery in new york city during march and april of 2008. it was entitled, hyperbaric-hypobaric, the respiration of memory. a short film entitled, undine's curse was part of this exhibit in which nicole renaud played the role of the forelorn nymph, undine. integral to her character was the lincordian, its bellows symbolizing undine's transition from a water creature to a creature of air.

undine is the name of the nymph in the novel written by baron de la motte fouqué in the 19th century. she falls in love and marries a handsome knight. however, she is a fairy whose origin is water, and he is a human whose natural habitat is air. two different creatures from two distinct worlds merging together as husband and wife is the focal point of the story. their dissimilarity present challenges to be met and overcome, and whether the undermining strain will ultimately crush their marriage.

one senses that their union is doomed from their first meeting. undine looks completely human, yet she conceals her identity from her betrothed until after their marriage has been consummated. it is an act that reveals that at the foundation of their relationship, despite their love for each other, and vows of devotion, there is a subtle breach of trust. this act of deception sets the tone that she suspects her human husband would not understand her desperation as a fairy in wanting to acquire a soul as well as to be accepted as part of the human race. it underscores an inherent discord between species that even love could not bridge. subsequently, as they confront the trials and tribulations which threaten their marriage, this fissure of false impressions and misunderstandings gradually erodes their marital underpinnings. as a result, undine is finally betrayed by her adulterous husband. obligated by destiny to serve him justice, she unwillingly kills him by drowning him in her tears.

mr. lincoln's film takes off from this part of the story. the viewer sees undine singing an aria from monteverdi's opera, di misera regina, while playing the lincordian as her accompaniment. she is mourning the loss of her husband and anguishing over her tragic fate.

a different challenge awaits her. she is alone in a foreign habitat. she can easily return to the waters of her origin, but she is no longer the nymph she was before. she is a nymph with a human soul. if she were to return to her natural environment, she would remain separate and distinct among her fairy brethren. if she were to remain a nymph wandering the earth, she would meet the daily challenges of survival in an environment her fairy body would regard as hostile. seeking to avoid her fate of living a lonely existence in either world, she chooses to fully integrate to her adopted habitat, and become fully human. yet to do so would require that she evolve from a creature who breathes water, to one who respires air.

the lincordian allegorically represents undine's transition from one species to another. its transparent plexiglas construct represents the clear fluidity of water, while its bellows, i.e. its "breathing apparatus" constitute its "lungs". it is the instrument that undine brings with her on her quest to become fully human, endeavoring to develop the lungs needed to succeed in her transformation.

the lincordian came into being through a serendipitous series of events. mr. lincoln and miss renaud have been friends for a long time, and are enthusiastic admirers of each other's work. mr. lincoln would attend miss renaud s shows, and miss renaud would perform at after parties for mr. lincoln's gallery openings.

they share a poetic vision, incorporating elements of neo-classicism such as drawing from western history, myth, and fairy tales for inspiration, and reassembling traditional motifs into a surreal montage of sensory delight. their artistic expression is meloncholy, mysterious and elegant, and evokes an air of wistfulness. in regard to miss renaud's artistic style, she juxtaposes her elegant avant-garde look against the sound of traditional operatic music. these contrasting styles heighten her dramatic effect, and make the totality of her art captivating and surreal.

however, while perfecting her art over the years, miss renaud sensed that her visual aesthetic was not quite complete. her impediment was the accordion itself. firstly, she yearned to liberate the accordion's image from its popular folk heritage, and instead, associate it with a higher expression of art. secondly, it was a heavy, earthy vehicle, both in weight and appearance, and it clashed with her otherworldly glamour. she longed for an ethereal-looking instrument to match the ethereal nature of her style and voice.

miss renaud regards her voice and its styling in the tradition of oratorio, and her accordion as an accompanying church organ. in the same way a church organ provides mood and mystery behind melody and chorus, so does the sound of miss renaud's accordion create the liturgical atmosphere behind the transcendent nature of her voice. thus, it was not the sound of the instrument she wanted to change; it was the look of the instrument itself. she wondered how she could make it more sophisticated and elegant? how could she imbue it with a lightness of being which would echo her futuristic aesthetic? in essence, how could she give it an air of magic?

while musing over her quandary, she realized that which would give the accordion an air of lightness would be a transparent look. it would have to be an accordion made of plexiglas which would give the impression that it had been plucked from the ether. Excited over her inspiration, she knew just the man to proffer her idea.

over the years, paul étienne lincoln has worked once a week in an accordion workshop in manhattan called, main squeeze. he works alongside his friend and owner of the shop, walter kuehr. mr. kuehr can be best described as a visionary accordion maker who is constantly inspired to release the instrument from its traditional moorings. his accordions are one-of-a-kind creations. upon approaching paul with her idea, she realized with surprise that, simultaneous to her revelation, mr. lincoln and mr. kuehr had been collaborating on the idea of creating a transparent accordion through which its interior workings could be seen. mr. lincoln, being the madly inspired scientist-artist that he is, wanted to take the idea even further.

while working on his upcoming installation, hyperbaric-hypobaric, the respiration of memory, he decided to include the transparent accordion. it would serve as an integral allegory, both visually and instrumentally, relative to the theme of his exhibit. as part of this installation, he was putting together a short film which was inspired by miss renaud's artistry and voice. would miss renaud be interested in playing the title role?

three transparent accordions were constructed for the exhibition, and subsequently coined, the lincordians. one was used as part of the installation, and another was played by miss renaud as undine in mr. lincoln's short film. after the closing of the exhibition in april of 2008, mr. lincoln and miss renaud collaborated on the construction of her own personal lincordian.

upon its completion in february of 2009, mr. lincoln delivered to miss renaud, the ethereal futuristic accordion of her dreams. desiring it meet the standards of her avant-garde aesthetic, she enhanced its look one dramatic notch by recruiting charles kouzoujian to install additional lighting on the interior of the plexiglas. this final touch gave the lincordian its luminous, magical quality for which she had been seeking.