Saturday, April 08, 2006

Request-a-Hymn: Bell Towers as Participants of Place

I'm delighted to announce that a project I submitted to the Version :06 art festival -- Parallel Cities -- has been accepted.

My piece is one of many public performances taking place during the festival. Please join me at 5:30 on Monday, April 24 at Holy Covenant Church, 925 West Diversey, for Request-a-Hymn: Bell Towers as Participants of Place. Here's the event description:

Like sirens and honking cars, church bells are part of our city’s soundscape. They peal regardless of our efforts, from towers we almost certainly have never visited. The sounds are intimate; they rarely leave their neighborhood.

This project explores the evolving presence and participation of one bell tower in the neighborhood where it peals or, in the case of Holy Covenant’s stereo system, where it plays.

People off the street in front of Holy Covenant United Methodist Church will be invited to request a hymn to be played from the church’s bell tower while they wait.

The Public is invited to visit the tower and see the stereo system that generates the “bells” they’ll hear. .




The festival looks like it will be especially exciting for urbanistas and -istos. Its beta site is up with the schedule of events that will run in Chicago from April 20 - May 7. You can find it here. It's sponsored by Lumpen Magazine. Be sure to check out the full program.

2 comments:

Michael R. Allen said...

Congrats! I hope that I can make it to Chicago at some point during the festival.

While I find the Lumpen crew's politics a bit superficial and played-out (the magazine seemed better ten years ago), their festivals always draw interesting people and offer a shelter for unique ideas.

J R said...

Thank you. Please do let me know if you come to the city. It would be nice to have a chance to meet you.