Stephen Vitiello

A Bell for Every Minute

June 2010 – June 2011

Location

14th Street Passage, on the High Line at West 14th Street

June 23, 2010 – June 20, 2011

Artist Stephen Vitiello presents a multi-channel sound installation titled A Bell for Every Minute for which he has recorded bells all over New York City and beyond. Sounds range from the iconic rings of the New York Stock Exchange bell, the historic Dreamland bell (recorded days after it was discovered in the water off Coney Island), the United Nation’s Peace Bell, and more everyday and personal sounds of bike bells, diner bells, and neighborhood church bells.

During park hours an individual bell rings each minute from speakers placed throughout the 14th Street Passage; the overtones fading out as the next bell begins. A chorus of the selected bells plays at the top of each hour, filling the space. The sounds are represented on a physical sound map that identifies the location of each bell, allowing the listener to follow the geographic journey of the recordings. Collectively, the bells are a microcosm of the urban landscape as they relate to the sounds captured throughout the daily life in New York City. The site becomes activated by the composition, inviting the passerby to engage with the High Line and its connection to the city around it.

(1,4) Photo by Jason Mandella; (2,3) Photo courtesy Friends of the High Line.

Artist bio

Stephen Vitiello (b. 1964, New York) lives and works in Richmond, Virginia. Recent solo exhibitions include MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts (2011 – 2016); Museum 52, New York (2011); and The Project, New York (2006). Group exhibitions include P.S.1/ MoMA, New York (2011–2012); the 15th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2006); and the Whitney Biennial, New York (2002). As a Media Curator, he curated the Sound Art component to the Whitney Museum’s exhibition The American Century: Art and Culture 1950–2000; Young and Restless, a video program for the Museum of Modern Art and New York; and New Sounds, New Spaces at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon. Over the last 20 years he has collaborated with such visual artists as Nam June Paik, Tony Oursler, Julie Mehretu and Eder Santos.

Support

This installation is presented in partnership with Creative Time, and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and is made possible by a generous grant from The Rockefeller Foundation’s New York City Cultural Innovation Fund. Additional funding has been provided by Vital Projects Fund, Inc., and in-kind support by JBL by Harman.