Sound installation, 12′ and bass loop

Artists: Julijonas Urbonas, Gailė Griciūtė
Architect:  Povilas Marozas
Sound editor: Jokūbas Čižikas
Sound engineer: Vytautas Bastys
Bench designer: Paulius Vitkauskas

This sound installation, dedicated to the 700th anniversary of Vilnius City and the 444th birthday of Vilnius University (VU), experimentally reconsiders the festive bell. 

Gailė Griciūtė’s audio creation featuring bells is performed using special sound equipment installed in the bell tower of St. Johns’ Church and its courtyard, sonically linked to the repertoire of the bells in the campanile of Vilnius Cathedral. This sound piece was created by editing a recording of the bells of Vilnius Cathedral – the sound emanating from the bell tower of St Johns’ Church exceeds the acoustic capabilities and physics of any real bell. 

VU is a place where science meets art; the University has already celebrated the city for 444 years! To mark its birthday, VU is broadcasting an urban scale tintinnabulation, a ringing that can be experienced not only with your ears but also with your whole body. The top layer of the composition is broadcast from the bell tower of St. Johns’ Church – the high and mid frequencies are best heard from long distances. The special bench installed in the square next to the church emits the lower layer, which can be ‘listened to’ with your buttocks, guts, back, and feet.

“The sound of a bell tolling consists of attack, decay, sustain, and release. I wanted to explore what the state of sound would be without the ‘attack’ produced when the clapper strikes. How can different natures co-exist and complement each other? How can we celebrate not only the beginning or the end but also the process itself?

During the creative process, I decided to abandon the attack of the bell sound, instead listening to the continuity of the sound and its interaction with the soundscape of Vilnius.

After recording the sound of the bells of Vilnius Cathedral, I created a sound that ‘floats’ over the city from the speakers installed in the tower of St. Johns’ Church. The resounding peal of a multitude of chiming bells accompanies the listener along Pilies Street, all the way to the bell tower of Vilnius Cathedral ten minutes before the belfry comes alive. The recordings of the bells enabled me to explore the physical properties of sound and rethink their meaning before creating a sound that is not possible in reality. In the Grand Courtyard of the University, the sound installation is complemented by the low-frequency vibration of the bells through the oscillation of the sound waves that can be felt physically, blurring the boundary between hearing and touch, power and sensitivity.” (Gailė Griciūtė)