Happy 2010!

At the beginning of 2009, I decided to keep the large cast iron bell in the back of my hatchback. I figured I would most likely be with my car at the end of the day and that it would be really nice to have the big bell handy. Since I was already at home for many of the sunsets, I rang the bell regularly in my neighborhood. Over the course of the year, some of my neighbors have joined me consistently. The fact that most of them are under 10 years old and need to be accompanied across the street by an adult should be mentioned.

I look forward to embarking on year 3 and have yet to decide how I would like to participate in it’s evolution. The daily practice is great and I would also like to instigate and document more events this time around. It would be great to have more people join the project and to know about their various activities.

The big picture?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a ring around the world- a constant trail of bells following the sun as it crosses the horizon across the globe? Oh…!
Reality check
This is a picture one of my young and loyal bell ringers slipped under my door the other day. I was so excited because I thought he had drawn himself striking these two little round school bells that he often likes to play. When I thanked him for the drawing and told him how much I liked it, especially the part with him playing the bells, he told me they weren’t bells. They were the spots of light he was casting with his new flashlight that I gave him for Christmas. AAH bells, flashlights- what’s the difference…

Winter Solstice

Following the Light

Sunrise and sunset times from 11/29/09 - 1/11/10 in San Francisco, CA

It's all still a bit mysterious to me. Even though the sun continues to rise later and later until the middle of January AND the sun has already begun to set later a week before the Solstice, December 21st still has the least amount of daylight in the year.

Any ideas? It's interesting to compare this chart to the Summer Solstice chart from last year. As you would expect, the lines are reversed.

Greetings!

HOORAY!! It only gets lighter from here. Today is the 72oth sunrise and 721st sunset since beginning this practice on New Year's Eve 2007.

Happy Holidays to everyone!
love,
Brenda

4th of July Weekend In the Light Cone

July 3 - 5, 2009 Anacortes, WA
Lasercave Presents: In the Light Cone at the Department of Safety
This was a magical, communal event- indoors and out- installations, performances, BBQs, fire kite launching at night—all in a very quiet, beautiful town surrounded by water and mountains. It felt very clean and as if time was looking the other way as it passed by this little piece of heaven.
The curatorial premise behind In The Light Cone was simple: makers from throughout the country made dynamic, site-specific work based around the notion of two viewing times, during the day, when natural and artificial light commingled in a traditional gallery setting and at night, when piece-specific and -generated lights and shapes transformed the space into a wholly new environment.
Sunset at the Department of Safety
7/3 and 7/4/09 PM
The sun sets late way up in the Northwest, so I arrived in plenty of time on the first evening of the festivities at the Department of Safety in Anacortes, Wash. While the evening bell ringings on the 3rd and 4th of July were energetic and well attended, the 5AM sunrises were solo affairs.
Where is Everybody?
7/4 AM
Quiet Solo Bells (listen)
The first morning, I was the only person at the Department of Safety. I saw people moving indoors, but the streets were deserted. I found out later that everyone was camping on someone’s lawn in another part of town.
7/5/AM Shhhh... So on my way out of town on Sunday morning July 5th, I drove over to where everyone was sleeping on the ground. I tiptoed quietly among the tents and sleeping bags on the ground and quietly rang the smallest bells over each person as they slept. It felt somewhat sacred and I was moved to be in the presence of so many trusting and vulnerable people. It was a mutual blessing and I thank you all for a wonderful weekend.

The show was curated and organized by Jonah Adels, Jade Ajani, Adam Baz, Polly Bresnick, Tim Donovan, Maggie Jones, Jesse Malmed and Raven Munsell.

Other participants included: Mark Essen, Carlyn Elin Wutkee, Ben Segal, Benjamin Schultz-Figueroa, Sidney B. Russell, Bethany Miller, Rebecca Leopold, Tim Donovan + Jonah Adels, Adam Baz, Jade Ajani, Tim Karpinski, Allison Cekala and Timothy Karpinski.
The video program was curated by Jesse Malmed and featured works by: Jonah Adels, Tyrone Davies, Molly Bradbury, Chris Rice, Aurora Halal, Josephine Shokrian, Jade Ajani, Duncan Malashock, Jesse Malmed, Adam Davies, Brandon Rosenbluth and Jesse McLean.

Summer Solstice 2009

Chapel of the Chimes


Listen






Video








with Francesca and Rose at sunset. photo and audio recording: Thea Farhadian
Thank you, Thea!

Happy Solstice!!!
Thank you Sarah and all the volunteers. This year was super smooth!

We rang bells during the sunset at the Annual Chapel of the Chimes Garden of Memory event. Anyone there care to add any comments or photos from the event? Everyone who was celebrating the summer Solstice elsewhere care to say a few words or share some images or sounds from wherever you happened to be?

FAREWELL, FOR NOW

Sunset. December 31, 2008 Leaving the Pamida grocery store in Bozeman, MT
Happy New Year!
I had no idea how many exceptionally generous and wonderful people I knew. I was and am overwhelmed and humbled by your support, creativity and generosity.

Regarding the Solstice- Thank you all for your kind and immediate offers of assistance and for the many fabulous solstice recordings you sent in on such short notice. That was beyond luck. The Solstice Sunwatch recordings are so incredible, and they would have never happened under ordinary circumstances. If I had to point to a single moment from this past year in terms of gauging the success of the dailybell2008 project, that was the moment. Thank you all; truly, from a part of myself I hadn’t known existed.

I have decided to continue to observe the sunrises and sunsets as a daily practice-- I really like it. I haven't figured out yet where to take the project but have some ideas.

In the meantime, let's continue to track the sun...