UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS (2020) is a project bringing together patient ambassadors for Blood Cancer UK and stem cell researchers working at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre. Through a series of stop-motion animation workshops held via Zoom, participants developed hand-cut animation sequences exploring their experiences of ‘the unknown’ in relation to living with blood cancer, the challenges of research and the global uncertainties of Covid-19. Animation materials included paper, velvet and issues of National Geographic published in 1960, the year Blood Cancer UK officially became a charity.
Commissioned by the Wellcome - MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute as part of its Public Engagement programme, project outcomes include an animated film featuring participants’ stop-motion sequences (Futuramic Unknown, 2020) and an installation for the Jeffery Cheah Biomedical Center at Cambridge Biomedical Campus (The Night the Mountains Moved, 2020).
The Gold 45 Prototype
7" flexidisc book, playable at 33 1/3 RPM
Edition of 100
2019
The Gold 45 Prototype is a proposed sequel to NASA's 1977 Voyager Golden Record, updating the extraterrestrials on what we've been doing down here on Earth for the past 40 years. Made in collaboration with over 470 Cambridge residents, the prototype features greetings, sounds, music and artwork responding to a democratically selected list of the most significant developments to life on Earth since 1978.
Images within the flexidisc book include a set of six paper collages, The Prototype Shortlist.
Supported by Arts Council England
The video features a segment from Sounds of Earth 2.0, a composition of 'the 15 most significant sounds of human life since 1978' selected by and recorded with Year 5 students at St. Matthew's Primary School, Cambridge.
The sounds in this segment include: Pac Man arcade game, Super Mario Bros. 'game-over', Nokia mobile ringtone, iPhone ringtone, email send and receive notifications, and a drum sample, represented by the opening bars of the theme song from 90's American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.