The 400 Blows

The 400 Blows was an installation for Cruces Sonoros: Mundos Posibles exhibition by Anilla Cultura at the of Contemporary Art Museum in Parque Forestal, Santiago, Chile, from November 17, 2016 through January 22, 2017.

A 1912 bell, weighing 689 kilograms, belonging to the Sanctuary of Laura Vicuña in Renca, was installed in the Central Hall of the Contemporary Art Museum. In order to produce 400 equidistant blows, the 67 days of exhibition were divided in 400, resulting in a blow every 4 hours, 1 minute and 12 seconds, performed with wooden mallets belonging to old vineyards in Renca and Rancagua.

Of the approximately 6 blows per day, four of these took place outside the opening hours of the museum and were performed by museum officials and night guards. The remaining 2 blows were performed by the museum's visitors.

I would like to thank all those who collaborated in this project: Alessandra Burotto, the Anilla Cultura team and Francisco Brugnoli, Heidi Boronig and Francis Argomániz from the Laura Vicuña Foundation, Cristián Herrera, Giordano Pedrotti and his team, Angela Iturrieta and everyone who performed one or more blows.

Audio recording on cassette:

Side A

Side B

Side C