The installation combines three octaves of vibrantly painted tubular bells for a total of 15 chimes ready to be played by anyone willing to make a tune. Charles and Maximilian created the chimes from 100 feet of steel tubing of varying sizes bound to the street and overpass.
As John F. Kennedy Blvd. is closed to traffic and partially barricaded at the Crossover Drive underpass, the installation is in a perfect location for pedestrians and passersby to stop, play and make some music and noise.
Each of the three ‘octave’ pieces can be played on either side of the sculpture, allowing six participants to join in making music together. The piece encourages visitors to stop and produce a sound cacophony by striking the tubular bells with a mallet. The larger tubes create long, deep warm undertones, while the smaller tubes make higher, brighter notes.
Music and sound are universal languages that connect and touch all ages, races, and backgrounds. The artists developed this piece wishing to create a sense of wonder and play, encouraging everyone to participate collaboratively in making endless possibilities of sound and music in the park’s promenade.
Photography by Susie McKinnon
About the Artist
Charles Gadeken is an industrial artist working in the Bay Area for over 25 years. His monumental interactive public artworks reimagine the world “post-nature” and include commissions from Burning Man, Insomniac Events, Coachella, Absolut Vodka, the Cities of Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Reno. He has exhibited internationally and been featured in the Wall Street Journal.Skilled in the manipulation of metals, Charles makes copper, bronze, and steel pieces of varying dimensions and functionalities — from a tabletop fire flower that illuminates an intimate space to a 30ft tall LED weeping willow tree that graces a public plaza. Inspired by the objects, structures and processes in the world around us, Charles’ art depicts natural objects in fantastic ways and realizes the potential for serendipity in everyday life. Often incorporating and developing technology for various effects — LEDs, flame, hydraulics, and electricity — to increase the visual and physical impact of his work, he seeks to instill a sense of play into the environment. Ever curious, Charles takes the forms of things we tend to overlook and remakes them as magical objects that exist as portals to our collective consciousness. Focused on engaging the imagination both in the objects he creates and the method of their creation, Charles is dedicated to increasing artistic community and public awareness of art. Many of his pieces are interactive, encouraging spectators to become participants in the artistic experience.
Instagram: @charlesgadeken
Portfolio: www.charlesgadeken.com