St George’s Church in Ramsgate will be turned into a ‘musical instrument and time machine’ with a two month sound installation.
Created by artist Phil Coy, sixty beats per minute involves the use of an array of microphones to amplify the 1829 Vulliamy turret pendulum clock to form a multi-channel surround sound installation inside the church.
The work performs a temporary reversal of time, creating a feedback loop and a rhythm that matches the tempo of a heart at rest amplified into the nave of the church.
The installation has been supported by a series of workshop run by Pie Factory Music for teenage musicians to explore the relationships between time and music.
The installation, which runs from May 2 to June 29, will include a launch event on May 3, a tour with Art in Christianity (A+C), an artist talk and a closing performance where the installation is ‘hijacked’ by music producer and UK dub artist Adrian Sherwood and friends to create a new composition and live dub remix,
St George’s Church is a prominent feature of Ramsgate’s skyline thanks to its tower that acts as both a mechanical Turret Clock, displaying the time to viewpoints across Ramsgate, and as a Lantern Tower, built to aid navigation in the English Channel.
When constructed, these technologies signified a fundamental change in the world’s consumption of time, people lost their connection to the rhythms of the sun and the seasons, forced instead to keep pace with time dealt by a mechanical clock.
In the 200 years since the introduction of clock towers people’s relationship to time is ever more sequenced and sixty beats per minute aims to make a direct physical connection between the mechanics that drove the age of steam with those that drive the current digital age.
Church regeneration officer Jemima Brown said: “St George’s is excited to be hosting this project. The sound of the clock is extraordinary when you stand up close to it, and to have it amplified into the nave at St George’s is going to create an amazing experience for visitors to the church.
“Because the exhibition is funded via Art+Christianity, which has received an Arts Council grant, we are able to put the exhibition on for a full two months with the church open for three days per week.”
Key dates and events:
- Launch: Saturday 3rd May, 4pm – 6pm All welcome – refreshments will be served.
- Artist talk at St George’s Yard Sale: Saturday 14th June, 3pm artist, Phil Coy and Jemima Brown, Regeneration Officer for St George’s. FREE
- A+C tour to sixty beats per minute plus St Laurence-in-Thanet and St Augustine’s Church (by Augustus Pugin): Saturday 31st May, 11.30am – 3.30pm. Tickets available from A+C website.
- Closing performance event: Sunday 29th June, 2pm – 5pm Phil Coy invites local music producer and UK dub legend Adrian Sherwood and friends to hijack sixty beats per minute. A new composition and live dub remix breaks down the mechanics of the clocks regimented beat. FREE
St George the Martyr has Major Church status and has remained in continuous ecclesiastical use throughout its history. In advance of its 200th anniversary in 2027, a 5-year regeneration initiative named ‘Project 200’ has been working to open the Grade I listed building for wider community use and is seeking to maximise its potential as a destination for heritage and culture in Thanet.
Sounds amazing. I’m lookin g forward to that! 🇵🇸🌲