Premiering at The Eternal Network – Transmediale 2020, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Jan 28-1 March, Berlin Germany
100 Year Old Quicksilver Cloud is the first work in High Fidelity Wasteland – a trilogy experimenting with decomposing sound reproduction technology. Wading into the toxic haze of early transmission infrastructure, this installation sonifies the decaying atmosphere inside a thyratron – a 100 year old vacuum tube radiating a cloud of blue ionized mercury. Vacuum tubes generated, amplified and controlled some of the earliest flows of electrons signalling the start of widespread communication networks – radio, tv, telephony, computing. Produced prior to practices of planned obsolescence and outliving industrial lifecycles of technology today, decommissioned liquified metals of the thyratron are a ruinous substrate of post industrial ecology.
100 Year Old Quicksilver Cloud is commissioned by Transmediale 2020. Audio produced in collaboration with AGF (aka Antye Greie-Ripatti). Further sponsorship provided by Weltfirma Martion – Audiosysteme.