Every bell in Britain to ring in Olympics

July 10, 2012: This year’s Olympics in London will have a unique start. All kinds of bells, including church bells, hand bells, ship's bells and even mobile phones will ring across the United Kingdom to mark the beginning of the mega-sport event in London later this month.

“This is a part of the Cultural Olympiad, encouraging people to take in some culture along with Games,” said Scottish artist Martin Creed.

Creed, 43, winner of the Turner Prize, was commissioned to create his "Work No. 1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes."

Everyone can take part in All the Bells, he said, adding people need to ring any kind of bell for three minutes on July 27, exactly 12 hours before the start of the opening ceremony pre-show.

If people choose to use mobile phone, they can download a ringtone from the project website, where participants can upload recordings of their bell-ringing later, he said.