The Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne. The exhibition "Calling Percy" was presented by Cultural Collisions and the Melbourne Festival.
Water, aluminium, acetal, acrylic, fasteners, motors
Dimensions variable, approximately 450cm wide x 350cm high x 350cm deep
THE TOLLING is a kinetic, sonic and sculptural installation comprising seven tubular bells. Through its inherent systematic logic, THE TOLLING generates its own composition within the gallery, the deep tones of the bells resonating throughout the space.
Each of the bells is accompanied by a water-driven hammer which is connected to a vessel. The vessel gradually fills until it tips, causing the hammer to strike its bell. The duration between strikes, the force with which each bell is struck, and the overall sequence, is generated by the work itself and its inherent variabilities. A second tipping vessel contributes an additional sonic layer, submersing each bell-end which slightly shifts its pitch. These variable qualities converge to generate and compose the ever-emerging melody generated by the work.
Early experiments were sparked by explorations into Percy Grainger's free music machines. THE TOLLING draws upon correlations between my own practice – in which I create looped systems often driven by the weight and movement of water – and the non-deterministic action of “gliding” across and between notes that was crucial to Grainger’s free music machines. THE TOLLING explores the ways in which gliding as both action and concept can function and contribute to a cyclical system that is embodied within a kinetic sculptural installation.
THE TOLLING teases out the sonic and spatial potentials that arise in the space between kinetic sculptural systems and water. In particular, THE TOLLING mobilises water’s inherent capacity for “gliding”; water in motion is incremental, analogue, non-binary, gliding. When coupled with a tubular bell, this shifting capacity of water has compelling potential; the submersion of a ringing tubular bell shifts its tone, the pitch gliding, exposing the full possibilities of the bell’s tonal range.
Images by Christian Capurro. Footage by the artist.