The Bells Ring Out for One Day Sculpture

Bell image courtesy: Museum of Wellington City and Sea

Press Release:
For immediate release, 22 September, 2008

The Sound of the Flood:
The Bells Ring Out for One Day Sculpture
Lunchtime in the city will never sound the same

Wellington artist Amy Howden-Chapman will have CBD workers wondering whether to stand to attention or run for cover in City Gallery Wellington’s contribution to the nationwide One Day Sculpture project. Lunchtime Lambton Quay will have a touch of mystery and intrigue when 17 antique marine bells ring out in circuit from 1pm on Thursday 9th October. If raining, the event will be postponed until 2pm the following day.

In The Flood, My Chanting, Howden-Chapman will create a temporary circuit of bells curving from the waterfront though the central city and back to the sea. The line which the bells collectively delineate will correspond to the part of the central city most under threat from future flooding. The project is not only interested in the relationship of the built environment to Wellington’s natural topography, hence positioning the circuit on reclaimed land, but also looks back to the tradition of ringing church bells to raise alarm in times of danger. It seeks to use sound, objects and action to ask what emotional reactions we should have to the warnings of today about the natural disasters predicted for the future.

Official bell ringers will run between the “bell stations” to create a chain reaction of sound, activated by the sound of one bell reaching the position of the next. As the circuit is repeated, passers-by will hear the over-lapping and varying resonances of the bells. The duration of the sound circuit will be naturally determined, responding to the ringers moving through the streets, as well as to the necessary duration required for each of the bells to send the signal on.

The decommissioned ships’ bells, on loan from the Museum of Wellington, will be brought back to life for the project. Each has its own story to tell, inscribed with the names and dates of their vessel, their surfaces are marked with the history of their original use. Customarily bells aboard ships were used for ceremonial purposes, the marking of time, and to communicate a ship’s presence to other vessels and warn of imminent danger.

Amy Howden-Chapman: The Flood, My Chanting
Thursday 9th October, 1pm
(postponement date: 10th October at 2pm)
www.citygallery.org.nz
www.onedaysculpture.org.nz

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The Flood, My Chanting was commissioned by City Gallery Wellington as part of One Day Sculpture, a nation-wide series of temporary public artworks. A Massey University College of Creative Arts, School of Fine Arts, Litmus Research initiative. Maritime bells generously loaned by the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. Proudly funded from the Public Art Fund, Wellington City Council and Creative New Zealand. City Gallery Wellington is managed by the Wellington Museums Trust with major funding support from Wellington City Council.

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Press Release:
For immediate release, 17 September, 2008

Biographical information

Amy Howden-Chapman is a Wellington-based artist and writer, born in 1984. She has a Masters degree in Creative Writing, Victoria University, (2005) and an Honours degree in Art History, Victoria University, (2006). Her work has appeared throughout New Zealand, as well as in Australia and America, including being in group exhibitions such as ‘E.P.A.(Environmental Performance Actions)’ Exit Art, New York (2008); ‘Earth Matters’ Auckland City Art Gallery (2008); ‘The Water Show’, The Physics Room Christchurch (2008): ‘ ‘An Introduction to the Theory of Everything’, Michael Hirschfeld Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Wellington (2006); ‘ ‘Old Habits Die Hard’, Norwich Gallery, UK and Kunstnernes Hus, Olso, Norway (2005), organised by Sparwasser Gallery, Berlin, Germany, and ‘ETA’, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington (2004). Solo projects include ‘Wall Wall’, Kiosk (organised by The Physics Room), Christchurch (2007) and ‘The Story of Three Sentences’, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington (2004). She is part of performance group Raised By Wolves with artist Biddy Livesey, and recent projects include ‘Popping the Tent ‘, an episode of New Artland, Television Spaceman (screened May 2008); ‘I’m Breathless: Forced Fields’ - Conical Gallery, (2007) ‘Strange Parade & The Gift of Hills’ (with accompanying publication ‘After Leaving the Wilderness’), Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne (2007); ‘Mall wall talk task bask bark park’, in ‘Moment Making: After the Situation’, ARTSPACE, Auckland (2007).

Amy Howden-Chapman: The Flood, My Chanting
Thursday 9th October, 1pm
(postponement date: 10th October at 2pm)
www.citygallery.org.nz
www.onedaysculpture.org.nz

The Flood, My Chanting was commissioned by City Gallery Wellington as part of One Day Sculpture, a nation-wide series of temporary public artworks. A Massey University College of Creative Arts, School of Fine Arts, Litmus Research initiative. Maritime bells generously loaned by the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. Proudly funded from the Public Art Fund, Wellington City Council and Creative New Zealand. City Gallery Wellington is managed by the Wellington Museums Trust with major funding support from Wellington City Council.

RELEASE ENDS

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