We Beat The Bounds is a new work for local choirs by artist Abigail Reynolds, commissioned by Tate St Ives to celebrate the opening of the new gallery. In the UK the ancient custom of ‘beating the bounds’ takes the form of a parade around the edge of a legal boundary, such as a village or common land, beating it with a willow wand. The choirs sounded the bounds with a vocal and percussive score by Gareth Churcher, beginning at 11:00, 14:00 and 18:00, from the loggia. We Beat The Bounds was commissioned by Tate St Ives to celebrate the opening of their new gallery. For the opening day, October 14th 2017, I devised a performance with two local choirs drawing on the ancient ceremony of ‘beating the bounds.’ This tradition takes the form of a parade around the edge of a legal boundary, such as a village or common land, beating it with a willow wand. Practised in the UK since Anglo Saxon times, its purpose is to mark areas of belonging, and bring fertility to the fields. The boundary lines of Tate St Ives was doubled by the new gallery and learning spaces. Two choirs traced the full extent of the new bounds of the Tate in the morning, afternoon and evening. Mirror-tipped wands reflect the gallery spaces, voices and sticks resound the galleries. The score composed by Gareth Churcher is also mirrored: sung in a round, the notes are inverted horizontally and vertically through successive bars.