If you want to do something really different at a museum this summer, mark July 17 on your calendar. The Hammer Museum in Westwood is taking performance art to the next level and you can be part of it. And you will be rewarded with free admission to the museum.
The program is titled “SOUNDINGS: Bells at the Hammer.†Each museum visitor will wear a small bell to make pleasant sounds as they tour the museum and its courtyard garden. Then you will hear bells ringing — lots of them.
There will be more formal performances, as well. The Gamelan, a traditional Indonesian bell instrument, will be demonstrated in the Little William Theater. Colin Woodford will perform with amplified bells and cymbals on the Linbrook Terrace. And there will be a concert by the African Bell Ensemble in the Courtyard.
The permanent collection at the Hammer is one of California’s best. It is a classic historical collection with a focus on European painting. “SOUNDINGS: Bells at the Hammer†will begin Saturday morning at 11 a.m. and continue until 6 p.m.