“Then suddenly the sound of the bell was heard so beautifully and solemnly from the wood that four or five made up their minds to go still further on.”

-Hans Christian Andersen, The Bell, 1845

Somewhere deep in the woods of Hollufgård a bell can be heard ringing… A Bell Rings in the Forest inhabits a space somewhere in the distance beyond our vision, where sounds are heard and not seen, where a ringing bell can conjure wonder and engage the imagination.

Developed as part of Denmark’s Tilsynekomster International Sculpture Symposium, the piece consists of a bronze bell cast on site at the Gaestatelier Hollufgård as a companion instrument to the existing Manor’s clocktower bell. The bronze bell sits hidden, perched high above the forest floor, hanging from one of the tallest trees in the woods. Dangling from the bell is rope, inviting visitors to ring the bell themselves and become active participants in the work.

The spontaneous and unpredictable ringing of the bell in the forest contrasts with the regular, mechanical ringing of the Manor’s clocktower bell, creating a dialogue between landscapes and time. This dialogue may heighten our awareness of the differences between the highly formal gardens of the Manor grounds and the wilder, naturalized space of the forest as well as the experiential time of those in the woods versus the more regimented time that is imposed within earshot of the clocktower.

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