Documented artwork / interactive sound sculpture
Kendall Band
Credit as documented: Paul Matisse
Kendall Band turns a subway platform into a setting for shared music-making. Paul Matisse installed three related sound sculptures, Pythagoras, Kepler and Galileo, between the tracks at Kendall Square station. Passengers operate levers from the platforms to activate them. Pythagoras uses sixteen tuned bells and fourteen hammers; Kepler pairs a suspended ring with a triple-headed striker; Galileo produces a thunder-like sound from a stainless-steel sheet.
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At a glance
- Year / version
- 1987
- Materials
- aluminum, stainless steel
- Documented setting
- indoor
- Dimensions
- Pythagoras: 50-foot row; Kepler: 55-inch-diameter ring.
- Dimensions apply to
- Different component measures, not overall installation dimensions.
- Availability
- Unconfirmed
Places & versions
Installation history
Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.
1987
Kendall Square MBTA station, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Materials and construction
The artist dates the aluminum and stainless-steel work to 1987. Pythagoras extends fifty feet, while Kepler's ring measures fifty-five inches across. The bells are tuned in B minor and the ring sounds F-sharp.
Presentation and site context
The instruments occupy the center of the MBTA station rather than separate outdoor sites. The artist documents restoration by a student preservation society formed in 2010, without establishing today's operating condition.
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Sources
- www.paulmatisse.com ↗ · Checked 2026-10-17