All the Bells

The work was originally given in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in October 2006, where it attracted little favourable attention.[1] Its rubric was: All of the bells in a city or town rung as quickly and loudly as possible for three minutes (or in Spanish, Todas las campanas en una ciudad o pueblo sonando tan rápido y duro como sea posible por tres minutos). The work was a collaboration between the Candela Art & Music Festival, Escuela de Artes Plásticas, Galeríía Comercial, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, Mima and César Reyes and SunCom.[2]

The piece, under the title Work No. 1197: All The Bells, with the revised rubric, All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes, was subsequently re-commissioned, for a sum rumoured to be between thirty-five and fifty thousand pounds, and advertised as being a new work, by the London 2012 Festival.[3] The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers declined to participate.[4] The Council's President, Kate Flavell, criticised both the timing and content of the piece in her official blog.[5]