PEAL: A Virtual Campanile
PEAL is a laser-triggered, computer-controlled, light-sequenced emulation of a traditional English church bell tower – or “campanile” - originally commissioned by Sound and Music for Expo Leeds 2009 and conceived for the Leeds Arena of the Leeds City Museum.
PEAL brings authentic, high-quality recordings of the bells of five Leeds churches right into the gallery - to give the visitor the experience of being inside an actual bell tower. The laser triggering system allows visitors to ”ring” the bells by cutting beams of light with their hands, as a shifting multicoloured lighting system responds to their actions; a cueing system allows visitors to actually play some authentic ”methods” or ringing patterns dating back almost 300 years. Additionally, the installation has an automated mode where it reenacts historical peals or compositions, some lasting several hours; and it even has a built-in clock which sounds the Westminster Chimes on the hour.
The team from Monomatic spent several days visiting, photographing, videoing and recording – and, once or twice, ringing - with bell ringing bands from St. Matthias, St. Peter at Leeds Parish, St. Matthew’s, St. Chad’s and Leeds Cathedral, and the installation is complemented by a high-definition multi-screen video display with footage from the church bell towers synchronised to the work.
Video:
The following video is The PEAL submission video to Prix Ars Electronica 2010. See more videos on Monomatic's Vimeo channel
