The Co-Incidence Festival’s Artist in Residence, Joachim Eckl, whose performance piece “Sound Bridges” can be enjoyed in Union Square daily through this Friday.

By Tom Rose

From the clink of a spoon to the roar of a fire engine, the human ear picks up millions of sounds a day, but it takes an experimental mind to call these various sonic vibrations music. And this week in Somerville, at the Washington Street Art Center, a group of such curious minds has gathered to do just that.

They are here to participate in the second annual Co-Incidence Festival, a gathering of experimental composer-performers for ten days hosted by Non-Event, to expand the definition of art, music and the traditional concert performance.

The festival kicked off Friday with a Welcome Concert in Union Square and further along Washington Street with performances from guest artists Marilyn Arsem, Sarah Pitan, Jennie Gottschalk, and this year’s resident artist Joachim Eckl, who performed his piece Sound Bridges. The Austrian artist’s piece is to occur for one hour, for seven consecutive days in Union Square and is executed by pairs of performers creating “sound bridges” across the square via connecting sounds – which can be anything from a hum, to a screech to a bang on a pot or pan. Each consecutive day of the performance, the number of pairs increases by one.

Throughout the week, various discussions, rehearsals and performances will be occurring spontaneously at the Washington St. Art Center, where artists will gather daily at 10:00 a.m.

Eckl’s final performance will be this Friday in Union Square, and followed by a Finale pot luck dinner and performances at the Washington Street Art Center on Saturday. For more information on the festival, a full list of visiting artists, plus dates and times of performances, visit www.coincidencefestival.com.