Notre Dame has been described as the soul of Paris. As a result of the tragic fire in 2019, its bells have fallen silent. However, these bells were not damaged in the fire and are silently waiting and secretly “listening” to the sounds of Paris around Notre Dame.
This is a continuous live streaming sound sculpture that makes audible the simple physical fact that these bells are secretly ringing all the time. I think of this secret ringing as being the heartbeat of Notre Dame. The sounds that the bells produce are created by their harmonic response to the ambient sounds of Paris that surround Notre Dame, as revealed by a live network of accelerometers mounted and live streaming from all ten of the bells. The physical fact that these bells are harmonically excited by the ambient sounds of Paris is a phenomenon that this artwork makes public in a way that will not only be beautiful to hear but will have a healing relevance to Notre Dame’s fire, a healing relevance to the suspended sense of time created by the Corona Virus, the tragic war in the Ukraine and the ongoing environmental threat of climate change.
Biography
![](https://ars.electronica.art/planetb/files/2022/08/bio_Bill_Fontana.jpg)
Credits
Bill Fontana Studio in co-production with IRCAM and Centre Pompidou; in partnership with the official public establishment responsible for the conservation and restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral; With the support of Hottinger Bruel & Kjaer, the Friends of Notre Dame and the ORANGE GROUP