Work n 246. Un duetto fra il Duomo e Sant’Agostino Martin Creed, 2000

Roberto Pinto and Gilda Williams invited Martin Creed for Arte all'Arte V, and he chose San Gimignano. as the location for his work.

"Martin Creed placed his work in the medieval city of San Gimignano. For the opening of the event, all the bells of the city's churches rang in unison, in an unrestrained, joyful, and ancient celebration. Additionally, every afternoon at 7:15 PM, during the event (until January 6, 2001), Creed coordinated a "duet" between the bells of the Duomo and those of the Basilica of Sant'Agostino. The bells will play a variation of the children's song "Fra' Martino," a tribute to the beauty of a simple melody played with this unusual and public "musical instrument": the church bells.

As in the work prepared for San Gimignano, the artist often chooses not to introduce new, elaborate structures into the chosen locations, but rather to draw our attention simultaneously to the beauty and everyday life of the place. The mathematical formula he created to explain his approach to art is: "the whole world + the work = the whole world." In other words, there are only small reasons to add something to an already overflowing universe; it would be better to elevate our cognitive ability to appreciate what we already see – or, in this case, what we already hear.

This unusual project – the ringing of the bells – evokes the local tradition without the artist borrowing outdated or conventional ideas of public art, using traditional imposing and monumental structures. In this way, the artist creates a very subtle work of public art that respects and celebrates the uniqueness of this beautiful city without the "intrusion" of any foreign element."

"Arte all'Arte 5th edition 2000" curated by Roberto Pinto and Gilda Williams