1990
Bell for Sankt Cäcilien 1989
Sound Work Reference:
Kölnischer Kunstverein, Germany
ark adjacent to Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Dimensions: 10 x 20 meters
Extant: 1989–1991
1990
What I want to focus on it is the notion of announcing the work. Walking through the small park beside Sankt Cacilien you're struck with the contradiction that there seems to be a bell coming from there and it can't be there, so you go over.
Exactly. I don't think of the bell you notice as the piece; the bell isn't the work, it's the announcement - the work's entrance. This bell sound - it's not a regular ringing, and it's much higher than any kind of bell the church would have. Still, you are next to two churches, so it's plausible but it's not plausible. And there is also the fact that when you notice it and look for it, it appears on the face of this bricked-up church.
I built two parts to the sound - the stroke made as a real bell but higher than it should be, and then the after-ring - it dies away but in a way it doesn't die away. It's long. It varies; there's a progression of timbre for each after-ring that contradicts what you expect a bell to do - its length and its development. When you're in the after-ring, it is only just in front of the church; you also hear the bell strike. It's the after-ring which doesn't carry outside of the space - the after-ring is the place of the work.
Max Neuhaus
(commissioned by Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne)
What I want to focus on is the notion of announcing a work. Walking through the small park beside Sankt Cäcilien you're struck with the contradiction that there seems to be a bell coming from there and it can't be there, so you go over. Exactly. I don't think of the bell sound as the piece [A Bell for St. Cäcilien, 1989-91]. The bell isn't the work; it's the announcement, the work's entrance. This bell sound – it's not a regular ringing, and it's much higher than any kind of bell the church would have. Still, you are next to two churches, so it's plausible but at the same time it's not plausible. And there is also the fact that when you notice it and look for it, you find it appears from the face of this bricked-up church, from the façade itself.
I built two parts to the work's sound – the stroke made as a real bell but higher than it should be, and then the after-ring – it dies away but in a way it doesn't die away. It's long. It varies. There's a progression of timbre for each after-ring that contradicts what you expect a bell to do – its length and its development. When you're inside the after-ring, it is only just in front of the bricked-up entrance of the church. You also hear the bell strike, but it's the after-ring that creates the place of the work.
Max Neuhaus
max-neuhaus