sound installation in Bergamo 2008-09, also utilised on other occasions in smaller version
Church bells are used less and less, nowadays, as sonic time markers. Many churches in Italy (and elsewhere) no longer have their own sets of physical bells, but broadcast tapes of bell ringing only at the most important moments of reminder through the day (main masses, vespers, holidays). With Gak Sato and our students at Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, we convinced a local parish priest to let us install a set of different sounds using a complicated set of timers. The sounds marked the hours (and even fractions thereof) during the day. Sonic markers included a dog barking (just the right number of barks), a baby crying, a human cough, a foghorn, a bugle, a firecracker, and so on. One interesting aspect of this installation, like many others we have done, is that it cannot be witnessed quickly by art lovers or tourists. Only local residents and people who actually frequent the site of the installation on a daily basis can even notice its existence.