Atmospheric Memory: Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

Yhonnie Scarce

12 Aug - 5 Nov 2023

Interact with artworks in an immersive environment filled with light, sound and colossal projections.
Inspired by computing pioneer Charles Babbage’s proposal that the air is a ‘vast library’ storing every word ever spoken, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s breathtaking immersive art environment invites audiences to a multisensory experience at the intersection of art and science. Control 18 interactive artworks and surround yourself with light, sound and colossal projections as you walk through the chambers of Atmospheric Memory.

If we could ‘rewind’ air molecules to recreate all voices of the past, whose voice would you want to hear?
This exhilarating show features historical artifacts mixed with cutting-edge technologies from AI, robotics, endoscopy and fluid-dynamics to nanotechnology, mapping and 3D-printing.
In Atmospheric Memory you can touch the world’s first 3D-printed speech bubble, see your voice travel in a ripple tank, walk through clouds of text written in mid-air, hear 3,000 speakers each with its own field recording, and interact with virtual environments in a colossal 360-degree projection chamber.
What is the atmosphere trying to tell us?

Powerhouse Ultimo, 500 Harris St, Ultimo NSW 2007