Published June 2024 - pre order no
‘It is difficult to imagine the emotional power that bells exerted, their capacity to summon people together, to structure time and space in society. Still today, bell-ringing is considered an essential element of the quintessential English landscape, or soundscape, and a central part of local celebrations and performances.’ Amanda Crabtree
A Sculpture that Sings is a unique book about church bells, bell-ringing and the place of the tradition in the English landscape and its communities. In 2017 the artist David Ward and the composer Orland Gough came together to work with a group of bell-ringers in rural Dorset and later at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Together they created this extraordinary book; Orlando Gough’s words draw on the history, traditions and practice of bell-ringers around the world, while David Ward has created a beautiful piece of art, The Bell Folio, which includes photographs of the casting of bells.
The book has been created in collaboration with Artconnexion, the Anglo-French cultural and social organisation.
Orlando Gough is a composer (and sometimes lyricist, librettist, music director, MC, recording engineer, cookery writer), who writes operas, choral music, music-theatre, music for dance and theatre, and creates large-scale site-specific work.
David Ward is an artist working in a range of mediums including light, sound, photography and performance. He writes, curates exhibitions, has made numerous permanent and temporary works in the public realm and is known for his collaborations with other artists, choreographers, architects and composers. The dynamics of light are central to his work, together with elemental themes of the natural world.
‘It is difficult to imagine the emotional power that bells exerted, their capacity to summon people together, to structure time and space in society. Still today, bell-ringing is considered an essential element of the quintessential English landscape, or soundscape, and a central part of local celebrations and performances.’ Amanda Crabtree
A Sculpture that Sings is a unique book about church bells, bell-ringing and the place of the tradition in the English landscape and its communities. In 2017 the artist David Ward and the composer Orland Gough came together to work with a group of bell-ringers in rural Dorset and later at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Together they created this extraordinary book; Orlando Gough’s words draw on the history, traditions and practice of bell-ringers around the world, while David Ward has created a beautiful piece of art, The Bell Folio, which includes photographs of the casting of bells.
The book has been created in collaboration with Artconnexion, the Anglo-French cultural and social organisation.
Orlando Gough is a composer (and sometimes lyricist, librettist, music director, MC, recording engineer, cookery writer), who writes operas, choral music, music-theatre, music for dance and theatre, and creates large-scale site-specific work.
David Ward is an artist working in a range of mediums including light, sound, photography and performance. He writes, curates exhibitions, has made numerous permanent and temporary works in the public realm and is known for his collaborations with other artists, choreographers, architects and composers. The dynamics of light are central to his work, together with elemental themes of the natural world.