Nashville Arts Magazine

Artrivia

by David Turner

The Nike Swoosh is one of the most widely recognized icons on the planet. The design known globally as the Swoosh was originally created in 1971 by a design student, Carolyn Davidson, who invoiced just $35 for her work. The Swoosh represents the wing of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. The founder of the company, Phil Knight, selected it at the last minute saying, “I don’t love it, but it will grow on me.” In twelve short years, the brand had become global, and in recognition of her contribution to the company, Knight gave Davidson a diamond Nike Swoosh ring and company share options.

Our modern-day word “fiasco” traces to a tradition among glass blowers of Renaissance Italy where flawed bottles were set aside to be reworked into flasks. The Italian word for flask is fiasco.

Harry Houdini (1874-1926) was an American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, and film producer. The Master of Mystery and his wife, Bess, used to perform “mind reading” illusions that involved a number code.  Bess might indicate a person’s birth date by constructing a sentence using the code words: 1…pray/2…answer/3…say/4…now/5…tell/6…please/7…speak/8…quickly/9…look/0…be quick.  For example, the driver’s license number 4785932 would be revealed by: Now! Speak to me, oh great Houdini! Quickly tell me! Look deep within your mind and say the answer!

The 96^th Bell on Capitol Hill

Small Structure with Large Meaning

by Kem Hinton

Acknowledgement of Tennessee’s rich music heritage was an essential component of the original concept for the Bicentennial Mall presented in 1993. Two elements were proposed to express this music identity: a 95-bell carillon located at the north end of the mall (representative of the voices of citizens in the state’s 95 counties) and a single, very large bell on Capitol Hill that would “answer” to the will of the people. The mall was completed in 1996, the carillon four years later, and, due to the continued commitment of state officials, the 96^th Bell was finally funded and completed in 2003, a full decade after first being proposed.

The 96^th Bell is a singular pavilion positioned on the north slope of Capitol Hill. A combined abstraction and reinterpretation of the influential ancient structures, the bell pavilion is a simple, eight-sided object possessing robust base, unadorned columns, and expressive fin-like brackets implying an entablature. Its vertical form creates a visual terminus to Seventh Avenue, similar in effect to a church steeple at the opposite south end of the street. Over twenty-four feet in height, the stainless steel and granite composition supports a massive, five-thousand-pound bronze bell, elevated for sonic projection. Eight engraved female figures grace the structure’s granite base, each representing a distinct form of Tennessee music. Produced by the internationally recognized Tennessee artist Paul Harmon, these Musicks also recall the ancient Muses, sister goddesses of art and culture.

After the carillon in the Bicentennial Mall rings at the top of each hour, the large 96^th Bell rings once. Its pitch is C-3, one octave lower than the largest bell at the carillon, delivering not just an echo but equally an engaging tonal response.

Tuck-Hinton Architects, design by Kem Hinton

Paul Harmon, artist of the eight Musicks located on the granite panels