This week in Paris: an area man pulled out a mallet and started heading towards the Eiffel Tower.
“There’s a voice inside that pile of iron,” said the man, who revealed himself to be New York composer Joseph Bertolozzi. “And I’m going to try and draw it out.” Through music, that is. So, armed with a set of drumsticks, a mallet, and more music-making tools, Bertolozzi has begun playing the Eiffel Tower, recording the sounds, and composing a piece.
The project is part of a public art installation that Bertolozzi has been planning for years. Without speaking a word of French, the composer has collected over $40,000 to fund the project in France and has riled up excitement within Paris. The President of the Eiffel Tower’s operations, Jean-Bernard Bros, thinks the idea is extraordinary. He smiled, “Let’s see what kinds of sounds he produces – the fruit of his efforts”.
In other words, the most romantic city in the world is about to get that much more romantic.
Bertolozzi has started creating his sounds as part of a public art installation he’s titled Tower Music. The project is reminiscent of Toronto’s own attempt to express the life of the city through a collaborative symphony, based on submissions of recorded sounds and descriptions from locals.
The idea that a city’s spirit can be captured through sound is definitely prevailing. “The Eiffel Tower is a monument, it’s a destination, it’s all these things – but it has a voice.” said Bertolozzi.
Tower Music will be ready for listening by the Eiffel Tower’s 125th anniversary next year.
[via New York Times]
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Farrah Khaled is an intern at the Toronto Standard. Follow her on twitter at @farkhaly.
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