Spirits Known and Unknown
Spirits Known and Unknown (2023)
brass bells, custom painted platform
Spirits Known and Unknown is an installation and performance featuring found brass bells. One theory is that bells were invented when ancient humans banged on resonant surfaces to scare away evil. In many cultures, they are still used to call spirits. They appear in church towers, they are often used as symbols of peace, and, in times of war, have also been melted down and turned into bullets.
Onda relays: “Playing bells can be eerie at times. I get the sensation that ringing them connects me to their former owners who may have rung them. The actions recall lost sounds and sense histories that would otherwise be erased. It’s like collaborating with forces such as spirits and ancestors which transcends the sense of time and space… .”
Past Exhibitions
2025 Impossible Music, Tufts Univercity Art Galleries, Medford, USA upcoming
2023 Impossible Music, Miller ICA, Pittuburgh, USA, Curated by Candice Hopkins, Raven Chacon with Stavia Griman
Photos by Chris Uhren
Courtesy of Miller Institute for Contemporary Art
Courtesy of Miller Institute for Contemporary Art