A three-minute chorus of bells will be rung out across Britain to signal the start of the first day of the London 2012 Games.
The mass bell-ringing, masterminded by Turner Prize winner and musician Martin Creed, will begin at 8am on July 27 2012 when the aim is for all the bells in the country to be rung as quickly and as loudly as possible.
The performance, entitled Work No 1197, will be part of the London 2012 Festival to welcome to Britain the 205 nations who will compete at the Games.
Creed, who was born in Wakefield and raised in Glasgow, said: "It is by the people and for people. On the morning of the opening of the Games it is a massive signal that something is happening."
London 2012 now need thousands of members of the public to make the event, based on the tradition that bells are rung to mark special moments, a reality.
Anyone can take part, from ringers using the largest church and town hall bells through to hand bells, school bells, a single bell and even the bell on a bicycle. Community groups, clubs and individuals are all welcome to take part, London 2012 said.
They are now appealing for people to go online - at www.allthebells.com or via www.london2012.com/festival - to sign up.
Creed won the Turner prize in 2001 with a work that involved a gallery's lights being switched on and off. His Work No 850 involved a single athlete running at top speed through the Duveen galleries at Tate Britain - every 30 seconds, all day, every day.
The bell-ringing is part of the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the four-year cultural build-up to the Games. The London 2012 Festival opens on June 21 2012.
Ruth Mackenzie, the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival director, said: "Martin Creed's wonderful idea gets everyone involved in the opening day of the Games, not just as an audience but as an integral part of the work."
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