What will the fossils we leave behind say about us?
Technofossils are “human-made artifacts that can become part of Earth’s far-future geology” (1). A plastic gadget may take 500 years to decompose (2), offering someone generations from now a glimpse into our daily lives. The techno_fossils exhibition imagines the absurd ways that people hundreds of years in the future might depict our society based on the objects we leave behind.
The team chose to showcase three items that they use on a daily basis – AirPods, a car key, a computer mouse – and created a surrounding experience that exudes futuristic kitsch. A visitor entering the space is greeted by thumping techno music and an AI-generated voice, speaking to the beat, and inviting them to pick up a fossil. The “techno fossils” themselves rest on a platform of black acrylic and aluminum-coated plywood. The platform hides an Arduino and three photoresistors that trigger different responses based on which object is lifted, exposing them to ambient light.
When a visitor picks up a fossil, the intro text on the projector is replaced with a giant, spinning, 3-D “deconstruction” of that object, generated using Processing code. The glossy surfaces of the platform reflect the white pixels dancing across the projector screen. The voice, generated using Dennis Paul’s Wellen library, reads a description based on a hypothetical (mis)interpretation of that fossil. Pick up the AirPods, for example, and the voice reads, “This is the echo wave surge, circa 1920-2080 AD. It may have been a sacred object carried by individuals of high status or used during rites to invoke a connection with higher powers.”
Through this project the team learned the power of keeping it simple, the importance of context-setting and the basics of sound design. They hope that techno_fossils will inspire reflection on the things we own and what they say about us.
