PRESS RELEASE:UNTUNED BELL / A K DOLVEN

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A K Dolven’s Untuned Bell recycles Oslo’s history and challenges us to reflect on the out of tune: the general attitude towards deviations in society. One of the bells, that was removed from the bell-tower in Oslo’s City Hall, caught A K Dolven’s attention. This bell was pronounced out of tune with the other 49 bells in the City Hall, and has been grounded since then, silenced.

A K Dolven now brings this bell back to Oslo, to be reinstalled temporarily at Tullinløkka, some hundred metres from the City Hall. This 1,5 tonne bell, D sharp, will hang on a wire 20 metres above ground, suspended between two steel pillars 30 metres apart. The public is given the option to sound the bell by stepping on a pedal. As an independent bell its call will no longer be out of tune.

During the week before inauguration, the ‘normal’ bells in Oslo City Hall will welcome back the outcast bell, five times a day. This sound-piece is newly written by composer Rolf Wallin. The composition will evolve each day, as new bells from the City Hall ‘join in’. Finally on inauguration day, this piece will be completed as all the bells from the City Hall sound, and the Untuned Bell answers.

Tullinløkka was once a central square in Oslo, used by the city’s population for political meetings and manifestations. Untuned Bell seeks to reclaim Tullinløkka’s historical function as a place for gatherings, and to open up for a discussion around the squares future. This work both raises questions around deviation, normality and order, and asks important questions that concern our common ownership and use of public space.

The bell itself will function as an alert, and a signal to assemble. Adjacent to the work, there will be raised a 12 metres long poster wall: a platform for a dialogue between Untuned Bell, the public and the individual. Mounting posters is forbidden in Oslo, this wall will be made available for use during Untuned Bell ’s time. Oslo’s citizens are here given the opportunity to voice their opinions, or draw attention to a cause they find important or relevant today.

Curator:
Kristine Jærn Pilgaard

Arcitect: Trude Mardal

Produced by:
KORO – Public Art Norway
Supported by: Ansnes AS, Arts Council Norway and The Freedom of Expression Foundation.

For more information:
Beate Styri - Head of Information KORO /
T: +47 22 99 11 80 / bst@koro.no

Kristine Jærn Pilgaard - Curator & project manager KORO /
T: +47 45 61 36 42/ kjp@runbox.no

A K Dolven - Artist /
T: + 44 7768737439 / + 47 97 65 89 63 /   ak@akdolven.com

Bo Krister Wallström - Senior advisor KORO /
T: +47 91 74 9454 / bw@koro.no

www.koro.no/akdolven/untunedbell