Campanologia Bologna is a set of scores, preformed on bell towers, that transform the geographic space of the city into sound, based on the mathematics of bell ringing. This work is part of an ongoing investigation by the artist into the history of bell ringing as an ancient form of communication.
Campanolgogia comprises four new scores written for the towers of San Giacomo, Santi Gregorio, Santi Bartelomeo and the Cathedral San Pietro that were premiered on the 30th August 2013. The scores follow the mathematics of the traditional Bolognese ringing methods to translate into sound the geography of the city space. Tracing four journeys from the city walls via the churches to the cathedral each score renders in sound a journey across the city dictated by the bells. This journey was walked by the public during the performance who congregated in their thousands to hear the work ring out.
A film accompanies the live work that uses footage from the performance to piece together a traditional score previously lost to history that was revealed through the mathematic process of this work.
Campanologia Bologna is curated by Stella Bottai and Marta Papini with the advice of Professor Fabrizio Lollini of the History of Medieval Art at Bologna University and thanks to Unione Campanari Bolognesi. It is produced by Bottega Bologna with the support of Comune di Bologna, the British Council and Foundazione Paleotti-Isolani.
This work follows on from a previous performance written for Bourn Church in Cambridgeshire commissioned by Wysing Arts Centre.
Photos courtesy of Federico Borella.