Projects
Time and Tide Bell
Marcus Vergette
Aberdyfi, Appledore, London, Outer Hebrides, United Kingdom
Project Start: 27/05/2009
Project End: 01/01/2020 Still in Production
Category: Visual Art and Installations
Tags: Coast, Sea level, Sound Art, Waves
Link: http://www.marcusvergette.co.uk/bell.htm
Media Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkf44jysYw&feature;=player_detailpage
A permanent installation of 12 bells around the U.K. rung by the sea at high tide.
This project is to make a permanent installation of the Time and Tide Bell at the high tide mark at a number of diverse sites around the country, from urban centres to open stretches of coastline. The rise of the water at high tide moves the clapper to strike the bell. Played by the movement of the waves, the bell creates a varying, gentle, musical pattern. As the effect of global warming increases, the periods of bell strikes will become more and more frequent, and as the bell becomes submerged in the rising water the pitch will vary.
The first bell was installed in July 2009 at Appledore, Devon: the second on Bosta beach Gt. Bernera, Outer Hebrides in June 2010: the third at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London in September 2010: the fourth installed in Aberdyfi, Wales, July 2011.
Potential Sites: The integrity of the Time and Tide Bell project nationally is in the choice of the sites and how they connect. The Time and Tide Bell is to create, celebrate, and reinforce connections, between different parts of the country, between the land and the sea, between ourselves, our history, and our environment. Each of the sites bring something particular and unique to the whole group. The sites presently under development for installation are Orford Ness and Aberdeen.