Anthem
Anthem responds to voice sounds produced by visitors.
For this work, a large library of sounds from imaginary animals was specially created; these utterances are emitted by speakers placed inside amorphic-looking sculptures hanging from the ceiling. In reality, these sculptural elements are derived from plant disease: they are tumors grown by certain trees. In this way, Anthem integrates a wide array of planetary forces: biological, technological, and imaginary.
Anthem reveals an uncanny dynamic: because the imaginary animals take hints from the pitch and other sound characteristics of the person interacting with it, this fictional entity responds with traces of ourselves.
Blending biology, technology, and speculative imagination, the work proposes ways of understanding how organic and artificial entities might coexist beyond normative assumptions.
The installation consists of sculptures inspired by tree tumors, functioning as hollow resonant bodies with embedded microphones and speakers.
Suspended from the ceiling like organisms, they are connected through metal hoses, forming an ecology that stirs the limits between artificial and biological imaginaries.
Anthem is an interactive installation that invites visitors into a beyond-linguistic “conversations” with a fictional multispecies entity.
It explores communication beyond words, where sound becomes the primary medium of exchange.
The system uses a large library of imaginary animal vocalizations, created through voice, instruments, and sound manipulation.
Visitors activate the work through their own voice (speaking, singing, or whispering) triggering real-time responses that subtly mirror their vocal expressions.
Anthem
Tree tumors, speakers, machine learning system, computer hardware, cables
