WIP! Visit the project page sophikravitz.com/messages
Messages from Space is an immersive sound installation built around a simple, true fact: cosmic rays from outer space are passing through your body right now. You cannot feel them. You cannot see them. But they are there. Our custom sensors measure these particles as they pass through the installation, activating sounds, lights, and stories all around you. Participants listen to the experience and view the lights and sculptures. They do not actively interact, but may pause along the path to rest, reflect, or watch the world unfold.
The installation is designed for one visitor or a small group moving at their own pace. Visitors move through several planetary sculptures (12” - 24” diameter) mounted at varying heights. The sculptures are arranged on a path held together by a gentle multi-channel ambient soundscape that gives the space a warm, immersive feeling. When a particle arrives from deep space and passes through a sculpture, roughly every few seconds, it activates a piece of the story, a conversation, a sound effect. Because the detections are real and random, no two experiences are identical: you might wait in silence between sculptures, or hear several conversations in quick succession.
The conversations belong to people living in the near-far future. They speak casually and intimately, sharing small moments of life in a world that is different but not unrecognizable, better in some ways, resilient and human. A doctor coaxing a child through heart surgery. Two centenarians rocking on a porch, remembering war. A young woman savoring chocolate that adapts to her tongue. An old man choosing which hip to replace.
Threading through all of it is Liz. Liz is 126 years old and has chosen the date of her death. Before she goes, she uploads her memories to the archive. She is your guide. Her voice connects the sculptures, reflecting on what she's witnessed across a century and a quarter of living, loving, losing, and staying connected through the Fire-Flood Years and the great dispersal, civilization-scale events that have reshaped the past hundred years.
Team: Sofy Yuditskaya Ria Rajan Sophi Kravitz Oliver Tanner