ENTRY # 8 : The Singing Ringing Tree

Perhaps one of the most bizarre things I have ever heard about was the Singing Ringing Tree in Burnley, northern England. I first heard about it from a British friend that I met in London once and kept in touch with. I had completely forgotten about it, and then suddenly remembered again so I went on to look it up. And what a strange piece it is indeed. It composed by many galvanized tubes of varying lengths stacked up to form a tree. It was designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Ana Liu. Imagine a waling amorphous oblique in a barren cliff’s distance. The sound as eerie as one might imagine a well of lost souls where spirits in limbo might stick like a magnet. Well that is exactly what it sounds like to me, but oddly enough the sound is soothing. Perhaps this is due to the fact that its nature causing the sounds and I realize that it is completely at random in that sense. It is not as if someone is playing badly on purpose. The hypnotic, constant drone of the Singing Ringing tree can be heard from far away as visitors approach the site. In a sense, it is an interactive piece of art since it requires our ears to listen, which draws up the crowds. It is also exceptionally a landmark art piece. This discovery has prompted me to look into other musical art pieces that sit on their own outside such as wind harps. It is baffling how a little bit of sound emanation can create a real presence, as if in the company of some celestial entity. Perhaps it is our way of being in the company of Mother nature.