Aug

In Tune with Paris: The Music of the Eiffel Tower

by Meredith Mullins on August 8, 2013

Joe Bertolozzi with rubber hammer on Eiffel Tower railing, a unique form of artistic expression.

Hundreds of feet high, Joe Bertolozzi “plays” an Eiffel Tower railing.
© Franc Palaia

The Voice Inside The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower has been called many things. La Grande Dame. The Iron Lady. The ultimate symbol of Paris.

Several more imaginative names were provided by the artists and writers who protested its construction in 1887. A truly tragic street lamp. An ungainly skeleton. A half-built factory pipe.

Now, thanks to Joseph Bertolozzi‘s unique path for artistic expression, an even more inspirational name can be applied. The Eiffel Tower has become a musical instrument.

Oh, I see. There is music everywhere. You just have to be open to finding it.

rtolozzi with large mallet playing fence, artistic expression on the Eiffel Tower.

A musical fence . . . with quite a view.
© Franc Palaia

Tower Music

Composer/musician Bertolozzi has a penchant for discovering new ways of creating music. He has a long career of traditional composing, including orchestral works and choral music, but he is also inspired to find the voice inside inanimate objects and draw out natural sounds as the foundation for composition.

Like any percussionist at heart, he has a tendency to beat out rhythms on whatever is handy—the dinner dishes, doorknobs, railings, and any nearby surface that attracts him.

Enter—the Eiffel Tower . . . and the idea to play its surfaces. The seed was planted back in New York with an innocent comment by Joe’s wife in front of an Eiffel Tower poster. She pointed at the poster and made the sound “bong.” Joe’s imagination took over.

Couple that with Joe’s desire to explore an object’s inner rhythms and to let it speak. Add his persistence with layers of French authorities to get permission to “play” the tower.

It took years to pull it all together. He even had time to “practice” with the Mid-Hudson Bridge, an adventure that produced the lively Bridge Music composition.

Finally, all the elements aligned. The result: The Tower Music Project.

Joe Bertolozzi swinging a log into the Eiffel Tower structure, artistic expression in natural sounds.

Even the sturdiest structures vibrate if you hit them hard enough.
© Franc Palaia

An Impressive Range of Tones

Everything vibrates. And 7,300 tons of wrought iron is no exception. The tower has music inside.

“We often bang on it,” said one of the tower’s chief engineers, “to make sure the material isn’t defective.” But safety-check banging is different from Joe’s vision.

For the 12 days he was authorized to collect sounds at the tower, Joe and his team worked hard to leave no surface unbanged.

He tapped railings with assorted mallets at varying intensity. He used drumsticks on girders and spindles. He heaved a log into the sturdy iron legs.

He climbed secret spiral steps and elicited bell-like tones from their underside. He struck panels attached to a security fence and heard sizzle cymbals combined with a thunderous bass drum.

Joe Bertolozzi playing spiral stairs, artistic expression making music with the Eiffel Tower.

The bell-like tones of the secret spiral stairs.
© Franc Palaia

In all, he estimates that he collected more than 10,000 sounds (and managed to pause every now and then to savor Paris unfolding before him).

“I used to think of the tower as one thing, like a single brushstroke. Now, I look at it and see all its individual components,” Joe says with the admiration reserved for a complex literary character or multi-layered painting.

Joe Bertolozzi hammering with two arms, artistic expression on the Eiffel Tower.

Inspired by Paris vistas and the diverse tones of the tower.
© Franc Palaia

Who’s That Man Beating on the Eiffel Tower?

Music is universal. Rhythms are primal and contagious. So the passersby and onlookers during Joe’s percussive riffs often got involved in the action.

A pair of teenage tourists started rapping to Joe’s beat as he improvised. A tower security guard showed Joe pictures of himself playing the djembe (African drum)—perhaps hoping to play some tower parts himself?

Most everyone was curious, as the team of eight seemed dedicated to a quest, and were hard to miss with their microphones, recording gear, and the strange musical “tools” used to strike the tower.

The Tower Music Team in front of the Eiffel Tower, artistic expression from teamwork.

The Tower Music Team—a job well done.
© Franc Palaia

Back Home in the Studio

Now the cataloging of sounds and notes and the subsequent composing take place in the quieter environment of the studio. More long hours are needed, as Joe hopes to complete the final piece and an album in time for the 125^th anniversary of the tower next year.

Ideally, too, there will be a live performance. But that would take hundreds of musicians and more authorizations from the French government. Another goal would be an audio installation at the tower so visitors could hear the composition.

Eiffel Tower, an inspiration for artistic expression.

The legacy of the Eiffel Tower.
© Meredith Mullins

Brothers in Vision: Eiffel and Bertolozzi

Just like Gustave Eiffel in the original construction of the tower, Joe says, “There were delays and missed deadlines and push back. We were in good company. We both demonstrated perseverance and conviction of purpose to achieve our goals.”

For Eiffel, the tower has achieved a lasting legacy and the appreciation of architects and engineers as well as throngs of Paris visitors (7 million per year).

Bertolozzi, too, hopes that his artistic expression will have a lasting legacy with his completed composition, Tower Music.

And we hope that the OIC Moment of this story lives on. There is music everywhere. You just have to be open to finding it.

See Joe in action at the Eiffel Tower.

See Joe in action at the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

OIC thanks Franc Palaia for the use of his photographs.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 8 Comments

France (Paris)/The World's Music

Aug

Nancy Judd’s Clever Ideas Keep Trash In Style

by Janine Boylan on August 5, 2013

Convertible Trashique, showing clever ideas in recycled fashion by Nancy Judd

Convertible Trashique
design © Nancy Judd
photo by Eric Swanson
commissioned by Toyota

Recycled Fashion Sends a Message

When I first saw Nancy Judd’s work on display, I rushed over to get a closer look at the beautiful fashions.

But, oh, I see! Judd’s work is not at all what it first appears to be. Judd makes her work out of trash.

Janine Boylan 3 Comments

Clever Ideas/Making a Difference

Aug

Forty Days of Dating: A Relationship Experiment

by Sheron Long on August 1, 2013

Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman gain perspective in a relationship experiment.

Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman face up to issues in a relationship experiment.
© Osvaldo Ponton

Come Face-to-Face and Gain Perspective

Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman had a creative idea. Date for 40 days (long enough to break bad habits) and work on issues that had gotten in the way of prior relationships.

Friends for four years, Jessica and Tim are designers in NYC, people who take creative risks and enjoy collaborative projects. They have a lot in common, but—

Jessica loves the thrill of healthy, romantic relationships, falls into them perhaps too quickly, and is looking for “the one.”

Tim loves the thrill of the chase (often dating several girls at once), has trouble committing, and sometimes leaves relationships for trivial reasons.

With these opposite perspectives, Forty Days of Dating is a relationship experiment with potential for explosive results. Will the friends damage their friendship? Will they fall madly in love? Will they gain perspective?

Typographic art helps participants gain perspective in a relationship experiment

“Embrace uncertainty,” good watchwords for a relationship experiment
© Anisa Suthayalai

Getting Starting

For the experiment, Jessica and Tim set rules, such as seeing each other every day, visiting a couple’s therapist weekly, and filling out a daily questionnaire privately and with candor.

The 40 days occurred last spring, and now from July 10–August 16, 2013, daily posts chronicle the developments. Typographic art from friends captures the essence of each day, staring with Day 1:

Day 1 for Tim after a date the night before
© Roanne Adams / Roandco

Day 1 for Jessica: When an opportunity seems scary, I must take it.
© Keetra Dean Dixon

Insights Galore

Now, more than half-way through the project, the couple’s daily reflections offer a treasure trove of “Oh, I see” moments. Here are but a few:

1. On the Role of Exes—

On Day 5, Jessica and Tim engaged in “art therapy,” making word pictures about past relationships while they shared ginger cookies and egg pastries. When Jessica moved her exes out of her head, she found it “surprisingly therapeutic.”

Jessica gets an ex out of her head and onto paper.
© Jessica Walsh

Tim drew his dating history of 65 girlfriends and observed, “There’s something liberating about airing my dirty laundry.”

2. On Why People Fall Too Fast—

A visit to a couple’s therapist on Day 8 gives insight on Jessica’s issue. Looking at the portraits of her exes, it’s easy to see that she jumps into relationships. The therapist explains and Tim, at least, has an aha moment: Jessica gets serious so fast because she dislikes the discomfort or awkwardness in the beginning of a relationship.

3. On Avoiding Attachment—

On Day 11, Tim gets crabby and starts pointing out Jessica’s quirks and weaknesses. She recognizes Tim’s behavior as a way to protect himself from getting too attached.

Jessica Walsh gains perspective in a relationship experiment

On Day 13, Jessica explains:

“As soon as he starts seeing a girl, especially a girl he really likes, he’ll focus on bizarre things about her that bother him.

“These things are meaningless in terms of a relationship, but he claims they are deal breakers.

“A few months ago he dated a great girl who seemed to have it all, but he decided he should end things because he didn’t like her shoes. Seriously.

“The next girl he said he liked hooked up with him too soon. The next girl he dated was amazing but she didn’t like her career as much as he likes his.”

The attachment issues led to the first fight, and soon the couple had to—

4. On the Fear of Commitment—

Jessica reports mixed signals from Tim: “He’s both interested and scared to become intimate, yet he’s still being flirtatious and showing signs of wanting more.”

She starts asking more from the relationship. What does that feel like to Tim? He speaks honestly:

Timothy Goodman gains perspective in a relationship experiment

“I feel like I’m walking on eggshells a bit.” (Day 12)

“Yes, I am interested in more, but it just feels too risky.” (Day 13)

“I feel a lot of pressure from Jessie. I like a bit of uncertainty, and I like living in the questions. I don’t like having to live up to some idea, or to fulfill some expectation, though. I don’t think she even realizes she’s doing it. The whole situation is making me feel very unsettled, and she wonders why I’m being so wishy-washy.” (Day 14)

The pressure Tim feels leads to the wishy-washiness that confuses Jessica, and that confusion prompts the questions that feel like pressure to Tim. Ah, it’s a circle all about commitment. What’s missing?

5. On Not Giving Up—

As in all relationships, things get really tense. On Day 15, Jessica decides to quit the project, but returns. On Day 23, Tim has had it:

“I’ve never felt more like a mouse in a cage being tested on against my will. I feel grimy. I feel very uncomfortable. I feel emotional.”

And Jessica is deflated.

What gets them through it? Intense communication and this realization:

What’s Next?

By Day 24, Tim has decided to give the relationship a go. Jessica has decided to let go of her expectations. They have sex. It’s 15 days from today to the end of the relationship experiment. Find more of their candid “Oh, I see” moments at 40 Days of Dating, and gain perspective for yourself, too.

Jessica is a partner at Sagmeister & Walsh, and Timothy runs his own design studio.