On July 27, 2012, the Summer Olympics will open in London — and every single person in the U.K. is going to know it. British conceptual artist Martin Creed’s “Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and loudly as possible for three minutes” will kick off the sporting event with noise everywhere.
The work is pretty much what it sounds like — Creed will orchestrate an epic ringing of every possible bell in England, from church bells to school bells to bicycle bells for three minutes straight. “‘It’s by people and for people. On the morning of the opening of the Games it’s a massive signal that something is happening,” Creed said in a press release.
The London Olympics has also launched All the Bells, a Web site that is probably the first ever social network meant only for bell-ringers. Professional bell-ringers can sign up to help out in a bell tower, while amateurs can sign up to join ringing groups organized in an interactive map. This is a U.K.-only event, but maybe some guerrilla ringers will pop up here in the U.S., too.
Tags: London, Martin Creed, Olympics
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What a ludicrous idea. There is no artistry in ringing Church Bells “as fast and as loud as possible”. They have no volume control and when rung too fast the rhythm is usually lost. I imagine that bell ringers will be no more interested in fitting in with the bizarre desires of a conceptual artists than conceptual artists would be in fitting in with the whims of bell ringers. Our tower will certainly not risk upsetting our neighbours with a three minute racket at 8.00 am on a Friday morning. Perhaps this prat should have had a word with some bell ringers first
Martin Creed didn’t bother to consult bell-ringers before coming up with this crazy idea. Church bells don’t have a fast setting. They don’t have a volume control. They usually do have neighbours who don’t appreciate 8am ringing. This simply won’t be happening with any church bells as far as I know.
I believe if you read the web site about the project you will see that the conceptualizers are well aware of the limitations of change ringing and advise us not to take the “as quickly and as loudly as possible” instructions too literally. As quoted on the site (their is a link to it in the article):
“We understand Martin Creed’s full title for Work No. 1197 doesn’t appear to make sense for traditional change ringing in bell towers (“…as quickly and as loudly as possible…”). The title reflects the auditory experience of many bells towers and other bells ringing together. Please ring your bells in your usual style, and a peal of your bell tower team’s choosing. You can ring for longer than three minutes if you like – just as long as you are ringing between 08.00 and 08.03am.
As a lover of both change ringing and contemporary art I think it is a marvelous opportunity for some crossover between two quite disparate aesthetic realms. It might let a whole new audience learn about the traditions of bells.
As for the 8 am start time, that’s a whole different issue. At any rate I think it could be rather a great national expression celebrating the start of the Olympics.
Oh my word – you sad so n so’s ….let the bells ring across the uk what an awesome idea- maybe they will drown out the sound of your whining.
Elynn Vancouver Canada.