Will Schrimshaw (UK)


illustration by Rob Pybus

Charles Babbage wrote in The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise “What a strange chaos is this wide atmosphere we breathe! Every atom retains at once the motions which philosophers have imparted to it, mixed and combined in ten thousand ways with all that is worthless and base. The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered.” Turning an ear to the atmosphere, this installation traces imperceptible lines and patiently decodes this vast archival substrate upon which every utterance is impressed. Obscure and confused signals are rendered sensible in the form of speech and broadcast for the pleasure of the passing pedestrian.

appearance at Tuned City 28–30. June 2013