Atmospheric Memory
July 6–21, 2019
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Atmospheric Memory scours the sky for the voices of our past. Inspired by computing pioneer Charles Babbage’s 180-year-old proposal that the air is a “vast library” holding every word ever spoken, Atmospheric Memory asks: was Babbage right? Can we rewind the air to recreate long-lost voices? And if so, whose would we want to hear?
An array of “Atmospheric Machines” mine the air for turbulence caused by speech, then transform it into trails of vapour, ripples on water, epic 360-degree projections. These artworks are presented alongside a section of a Babbage Analytical Engine, a rare object in the prehistory of computing from the Science Museum Group’s collection.
Staged in a custom-built chamber, Atmospheric Memory explores the beautiful tumult of the air we breathe—and ultimately celebrates the transience of the sounds that fleetingly live within it.
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Science and Industry Museum, FutureEverything, ELEKTRA / Arsenal Comtemporary Art, Montreal and Carolina Performing Arts – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Produced by Manchester International Festival and curated with FutureEverything and Science and Industry Museum.
Supported by Wellcome. Accompanied by an education programme supported by The Granada Foundation.
Photo: Miguel Legault Antimodular
