Wall of Song Project: Hallelujah
An evolving video and choral ensemble and performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah
Organized by artists Mel Day & Michael Namkung
Participate at wallofsongproject.com or download the App
Apple Store: Wall of Song
Google Play: Android
Wall of Song Project; Hallelujah, 2017; Interactive video installation, performance at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA
Wall of Song (Grace Cathedral, San Francisco video installation and live singing event version) from Mel Day on Vimeo
Michael Namkung and I are so grateful for all of you who came out and joined us in Wall of Song at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. It was a grand experiment in a rare ritual of public singing--we had an amazing turnout! It was an overwhelming evening for us, and we felt especially honored to have lead the ohms with over 700 people in Yoga on the Labyrinth!
We have done our best to credit all of our supporters, partners, volunteers, and collaborators on our video work. We don't know all the names of those who participated but we are so grateful. We could not have done this without you!
Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
Washington, D.C launch at Potomac Station on Inauguration Day and at San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art
January 20th, 2017, Inauguration Day Launch
San Jose ICA Project Space, San Jose, CA: Wall of Song with Michel Namkung (Jan. 20th and 21st, 2017)
Potomac Station, Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, D.C.: Wall of Song with Michel Namkung (outdoor projection and rooftop sound installation; Jan. 20th, 2017)
Live Film Series: Directed Actions, Curated by Robin Bell, Logan Arts space, Trinidad Theatre, Washington D.C. (Wall of Song with Michael Namkung) Jan. 21st, 2017)
Feb 25th, 2017
Projects Contemporary Art Space: CTRL, Curated by Fatvillage Projects, Fort Lauderdale: Wall of Song with Michel Namkung (Jan. 28th-Friday Mar. 3rd) with a live performance and flash mob closing event
March 5-19th
100 Days Action Residency, Southern Exposure Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA (Wall of Song ephemera and Participatory Booth Events)
March 29th
Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA (Outdoor installation at Resident and Affiliate Artist Dinner Event)
April 8th, 2017
Hammer Theatre, San Jose, CA, April 7-8, 2017, Paseo Public Prototyping Festival, Live event and screening
July 25th, 2017
Grace Cathedral, SF, 7:30-9, Video installation & live singing event
ORIGINAL PROJECT STATEMENT
On January 20th, 2017—Inauguration Day—The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will sing at the swear-in ceremony. Our project invites you participate in a different kind of choir—a massed singing of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah online.
there’s a blaze of light in every word
it doesn’t matter which you heard
the holy or the broken Hallelujah
We are concerned about the future. While our values and opinions align us against this incoming power and the walls with which it seeks to divide us, we wish to mark this moment with something both permeable and powerful—a WALL OF SONG. This wall shuts out not a single voice, but rather invites all voices to be heard, while no individual voice is privileged. What does that sound like?
This project asks questions: Can we create a public space that can hold both our hopes and our fears? Our praises and our lamentations? The holy and the broken? In this deeply divided political climate, and in the presence of real and direct threats to our most vulnerable citizens, what is the role of ambiguity and uncertainty? How do we negotiate the uncertain and unknown together?
Wall of Song invites people of all political stripes, beliefs, orientations, countries of origin, and voices (singers and “non-singers”) who want to stand up for the vulnerable among and within us, to lift up their voices together in a holy or a broken hallelujah.
Sing now by following the simple steps above. Please help us to reach our goal of at least 1000 voices. Please share widely. We need your voice. We need all kinds of voices. Don’t worry if you can’t sing. Don’t worry how you look. Nobody’s voice or face will stand out. Your voice will be lifted by hundreds of other voices, and your face will be layered among hundreds of other faces.
The project is open now and for the first 100 days of the presidency. Participants who submit their singing by January 14th, 2017 will be part of the Inauguration Day launch although we will seek to incorporate submissions up until January 19th. Submissions received after this time will be added to the second and final version to be launched at the end of the 100 days, on April 29th, 2017. The goal is to build as large of a Wall of Song as possible and launch on multiple websites and platforms on Inauguration Day and at the end of the first 100 days.
If you would like to screen the online performance on your website/platform/venue, please contact us at admin (at) wallofsongproject (dot) com. Please enter your contact information so that we can share with you occasional updates about where to watch the online performances.
The act of singing alone together may help to remind us of the paradox and complexity of being human in this digital age. In Cohen’s words, “There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Thank you again for participating in the Wall of Song!
—Organizers Mel Day and Michael Namkung / admin (at) wallofsongproject (dot) com
Wall of Song (Original Grace Cathedral, SF, looped version)
