installation view,  Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen, 2024  (photo: Choreo)

The Transformed Bell is Harmen Brethouwer’s reimagining of the church bell. By the 17th century, the European cast bronze bell had achieved remarkable acoustic refinement within the conventional form: its harmonic structure, combining a strike note with a precise overtone series, was perfected through generations of experimentation. Working with Royal Eijsbouts, a leading bell foundry, Brethouwer proposed a radically new shape—a bell cast as a cone. Achieving a full harmonic range in this unfamiliar form required the invention of a new internal acoustic profile, developed through cycles of modelling, testing, and close collaboration with the foundry’s acoustical engineers. The resulting Bell Bronzes stand at the intersection of sculpture and instrument. Their smooth surfaces and singular form give them a monolithic, almost organic presence. When struck with a hand-held clapper, they awaken, their finely balanced suspension allowing the form to swing almost imperceptibly as it releases its voice.

Bell Bronze - E, bronze, with steel and leather clapper, 2019, 100 cm, 110 kg, with Royal Eijsbouts, private collection

Bell Bronze - A, bronze, with steel and leather clapper, 2022, 180 cm, 1000 kg , with Royal Eijsbouts, private collection, (photo: Choreo)