Databells Debut - Opening Night Vernissage

Databells is an immersive experience featuring a whimsical and eclectic collection of bells, ringing to the beat of the statistics they're connected to.

A bell might be ringing when a star is born in our galaxy, or chiming every time someone is born. In the distance, you hear a bell ringing each time a ship passes through the Suez canal, or an Amazon package is delivered. Maybe you even arrive to a bell which tolls when someone farts in the room. Databells is a visualization of human experience, through the lens of the statistics that make up our daily lives, or deepest fears, and even things that span far beyond our little blue planet.

Databells invites you to journey down a winding path of illuminated bells, all arranged in an unforgettable and experiential statistical symphony.

About the Opening Night

This opening night event is the official debut of the Databells art installation by Rich Loen. As an immersive experience, it dares to promise intrigue, wonder, whimsy, and a sense of discoverability for you to explore. Special to the opening night is a reveal experience that will be uniquely performed only at this vernissage event. As an attendee, you can expect to be part of the unveiling experience, as you are welcomed through the Databells installation. Accompanying this will be a live jazz performance (you'll have to guess who, because this is a surprise!). There will also be an assortment of catering and drinks for you to enjoy as part of this very unique metropolitan-feeling art experience, right here in Ottawa.

According to Rich:

“The interesting thing about bells, and building a project around them, is that bells are multicultural. There are bells everywhere. There are bells on every continent and every country and city, and in everyone's life. Bells tell you when to go to the next class. Bells tell you when someone got married or someone died. Bells will tell you that an attack is coming or a fire is occurring. Bells have these built-in emotions to them—happiness and sadness, and alarm and fear. That's the incredible platform that this project is built on.

Bells have a universality and they have emotions, and that ties perfectly into bringing in the data sources that also have emotions.

There's a discoverability to Databells: when you walk up and you look at a bell, the first thing you see is a bell, and you see a mechanism for ringing it. Then you hear it ringing, and you might ask yourself, “why”? You may then notice a little sign: it says ‘People born in Canada’. And then you see all the other bells have a little sign as well, and you start to realize there's a whole other level of depth to this installation. Now you may want to go around and see, asking yourself “why is that bell over there ringing like crazy”? “Why is that bell over there just waiting”? “What is it going to ring for”? It is this curiosity that will compel you to explore the exhibit more and more.”

Meet the Artist

Rich Loen is an Ottawa-based artist, and owner of the Salon Des Bananes gallery and adjoining Loen.Design studio. He creates all of his large-scale installation works inspired by industrial design, technology, and data.

loen.art

Host or Publisher Salon Des Bananes